ATHENS, Dec. 27 -- A bomb device exploded outside a Greek Orthodox Christian church in the center of Athens on early Thursday, injuring two persons, Greek national news agency AMNA reported.
The two slightly injured are a church employee who found a suspicious package and alerted the police, and a police officer who rushed to the site.
No warning telephone call was made before the explosion and no group has claimed responsibility for the attack.
Greek anarchist and terrorist groups who have been operating in the country for decades targeting politicians, police, media and financial targets, usually make warning calls to media outlets to avoid casualties.
This was the case on December 17 this year when a bomb blast caused extensive material damages, but no injuries at the headquarters of local media group SKAI.
About 15 minutes after the explosion which happened at 7:15 a.m. local time, there was a scheduled mass, while next to the church is a popular cafe.
"It was a loud explosion, but not very strong," Andreas K., a local, told Xinhua.
"I heard a deafening sound while I was at home and then sirens of an ambulance and police vehicles... I went outside on the balcony to see what is happening," Evangelia T., a neighbor, added.
Attacks on religious buildings (in the overwhelming majority on Greek Orthodox churches) by so-called anti-establishment groups in many cases, are on the rise in recent years, according to a recent report on local "Eleftheros Typos" (Free Press) daily which cited the Education, Research and Religious Affairs Ministry data.
In 2017 a total of 556 incidents of vandalisms, burglaries etc. were recorded against places of worship, including 537 against Orthodox Christian churches and cemeteries.
A year ago according to the ministry's figures, a total of 215 such attacks on Christian churches, synagogues and other religious sites were recorded.
Located in the district of Kolonaki, 500 meters from the Greek parliament, the targeted church was inaugurated in 1931, while famous Greek architects, painters, sculptors and other artists contributed in the construction and decoration.
On early afternoon Thursday, bomb disposal experts also rushed to the headquarters of the ruling Radical Left SYRIZA party in central Athens for a suspicious package which turned out to be a power bank.
中国人全球最勤奋 网友吐槽生活所迫
早晨喝咖啡提神已OUT 不如做俯卧撑
学前英语常用词汇:动词的第三人称单数形式
用Apple Pay花钱是何样体验
中国富人不好做 富人不再如从前
霍金1亿美元寻智慧外星人
圆梦人生:4岁患癌女童“嫁”男护士
牛津词典告诉你 英语里一共有多少单词!
苹果增长故事完好无损
外媒影评《小时代4》
太阳报刊登英女王幼年时行纳粹礼照片
神人!不会讲法语 却荣获法语拼字比赛冠军
印度亚洲公路1号线今何在
布拉特承诺Fifa将有新主席和新开始
华为智能手机营收大幅增长
8.44亿:日本传媒巨头收购英国《金融时报》
学前英语常用词汇:形容词的比较级
10大危险信号 你需要好好休息下了
清华紫光收购美芯片厂商障碍重重
NASA发现新“宜居带”
奥巴马比批评者更懂伊朗
考眼力:图中的雪豹在哪儿?
微软上一财季净亏32亿美元
闹钟1遍就叫醒 6招告别起床困难户
爆笑瞬间抓拍:又有熊从大学树上掉下来啦!
学前英语常用词汇:动词的过去式
詹皇签约华纳进军好莱坞
上海迪士尼乐园计划将"海盗公园"列为重头戏
香港初创企业开发蜗居生态链
2015全球最富夫妻TOP10:盖茨夫妻夺第一
不限 |
英语教案 |
英语课件 |
英语试题 |
不限 |
不限 |
上册 |
下册 |
不限 |