Anarchists claim responsibility for parcel bomb attack against judge in Greece

Aparcel bomb was placed at a courthouse in Thessaloniki and addressed to the judge

Riot policemen stand guard during clashes after the end of a rally against the planned new law, allowing establishment of private universities in the country, in Thessaloniki, Greece, 15 February 2024 (EPA)

An anarchist group has claimed responsibility for last week’s attempted bomb attack against a senior judge in Greece, raising fears of a resurgence of violence by radical militants.

Explosives experts defused the parcel bomb that was placed at a courthouse in the northern city of Thessaloniki and addressed to the judge.

In an online post, a previously unheard of group, called Armed Response, claimed responsibility for the attempted attack. It named the judge it had targeted and vowed to step up attacks against the judiciary in solidarity with jailed fellow militants.

“Just as easily as the parcel bomb reached her office, our bullets can find their target,” the statement said.

Greece has a decades-old history of attacks by anarchist and far-left militant groups, ranging from small arson attacks, to bombings and assassinations.

Relatively few attacks have occurred in recent years, but several have taken place over the past few weeks.

Earlier this month, a bomb exploded in central Athens outside the labor ministry, causing no injuries.

Riot police clash with students during a demonstration in Greece (Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

It followed a warning call by a group calling itself Revolutionary Class Self-Defense.In December, a bomb that failed to detonate was placed outside a police facility in Athens.

In December last year the national riot police headquarters were targeted with a bomb that was defused before it could explode, as police union members protested increasing violence against officers in the force.

Authorities had been alerted after an anonymous caller warned a newspaper that the bomb would explode in 45 minutes and described where it had been planted. That gave bomb disposal experts time to find and defuse the device.

The bomb had been left in a copse near the riot police headquarters outside the city center and close to a university campus, police said. There was no claim of responsibility.