Greek police have said they are investigating a previously unknown group that claimed responsibility for a recent bomb blast targeting the offices of Greece’s railway company.
Greek anti-terrorism investigators said Monday they were looking into previously unknown extremist group that claimed responsibility for a bomb blast outside the offices of railway company Hellenic Train last week.
No one was injured in the blast last Friday evening, but the office building’s facade sustained significant damage. The perpetrators had called two media organizations warning of the planned blast ahead of time.
The group, which calls itself “Revolutionary Class Struggle” claimed responsibility for the blast Sunday in an post on the “Athens Indymedia” website.
The group also claimed a 2024 attack on the labor ministry in Athens, which also caused no injuries after police evacuated the area following a warning.
Why did group target Hellenic Train?
They said their targeting of Hellenic Train was a response to the company’s alleged neglect of Greece’s rail system, which they hold responsible for a deadly 2023 train crash.
The crash was Greece’s deadliest, with 57 people were killed and dozens injured when a freight train and a passenger train
were accidentally put on the same track and collided head on.
Relatives of victims and opposition parties have also held civil authorities and the train company responsible for the crash, and have carried out mass protests.
The ongoing investigation of the crash has implicated 43 state officials, including a station master.
Hellenic Train is a private train company in Greece that runs most passenger and freight operations. It used to be part of the Hellenic Railways Organisation (OSE), the Greek national railway company, until it was sold to due to Italy’s “Ferrovie dello Stato” train operator during the Greek economic crisis.
Greece has a long history of politically motivated violence such as small-scale attacks on businesses, police, politicians and embassies by leftist and anarchist groups. The attacks usually have damaged property, but have rarely resulted in injury.
Edited by: Wesley Rahn
DW News
