Greek counterterrorism police have arrested three people believed to be linked to bomb attacks targeting politicians from the country’s ruling party earlier this month, including an explosion that killed one mother and injured four others.
The arrests took place on Friday in Thessaloniki and on the island of Crete as part of an investigation into the July 1 attack. The attacks targeted the homes and vehicles of three politicians from the ruling New Democracy party in Thessaloniki. The assailants used improvised explosive devices made from gas canisters.
The mother of former party candidate Afroditi Nestora was killed in an explosion while trying to put out a fire, according to a report by The Defense Post. Nestora was injured herself, along with her father and two others. Four vehicles in her garage were also burnt.
Greek media identified the detainees as anti-establishment individuals who were already known to police. One woman arrested reportedly has ties to Greece’s anarchist movement and was previously imprisoned in 2022 as a member of the group Anarchist Action. Another person arrested is a member of the Anarchist Council of Thessaloniki and was previously questioned by police in 2015. The third person is reportedly the owner of the house that the two other suspects lived in.
The woman and one of the men reportedly formed the “operational pair” behind the attack, and the second man played a supporting role.
Left-wing anarchist groups in the country have often used improvised explosive devices to target politicians, banks, companies, and other power symbols. According to the Associated Press, the country has a history of politically-motivated violence dating back to the 1970s, with extremist groups carrying out low-scale bombings that typically targeted politicians or authority figures by using homemade devices.
