Greek police believe far-left anarchists are connected to a wave of arson attacks in Athens that saw property across the city set on fire in a coordinated attack.
At least 15 vans belonging to both supermarkets and courier companies were set on fire in several areas of the city including Pangrati, Nea Smyrni, Neos Kosmos, Galatsi, Kypseli, and Halandri. Police say that the attacks came after a call to violence was posted on a well-known far-left anarchist website on Friday of last week.
Another fact that led investigators to believe that the attacks were coordinated was that they all took place in just 15 minutes between 2 am and 2:15 am, Kathimerini reported on Tuesday.
According to the Greek newspaper, police arrested at least 40 suspects in connection to the arson attacks. All were released due to a lack of evidence.
The attacks bear some similarity to attacks in other European countries in recent weeks which have also been linked to far-left Antifa extremists.
Earlier this month in the commune of Bouguenais near the city of Nantes, two post office vehicles were set on on fire with police finding the letters “ADA” spraypainted nearby, an acronym for the far-left Action Directe Anarchiste group which later claimed responsibility.
Antifa extremists are also believed to have been behind a wave of acts of sabotage across France during the Wuhan coronavirus lockdown, including the cutting of internet cables that left 50,000 residents in the Ile-de-France region without internet access earlier this month.
Left-wing extremism and terrorism have been a major problem in Greece for several years with the European Union police agency Europol noting that in 2017 Greece had the highest number of far-left terror attacks.
“In Greece and Italy, however, the anarchist extremist milieu is considered to be an antechamber to terrorism, in the sense that it provides fertile ground for radicalisation and recruitment,” the agency said in 2018.
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