A suspicious package was discovered at the office of German Chancellor Angela Merkel Tuesday morning, just hours after small mail bombs exploded outside the German and Swiss embassies in Athens, attacks which have been blamed on left-wing domestic terrorists. Additionally, three more questionable packages were destroyed in Athens by Greek police.
Thus far, no group has taken credit for today’s mail bombs, which fortunately caused no serious injuries, and no link has been made between the mail bombs sent from Yemen and those found in Greece.
According to Fox News, authorities believe the mail bombs found in Greece are likely the result of domestic terrorists:
Greece has a vocal anarchist political fringe that opposes most forms of state authority — particularly the police and party democracy — and as well as capitalism and globalization. In recent decades, small radical anarchist or nihilist groups have staged attacks ranging from nighttime car burnings to bomb and gunfire attacks on symbols of state power and wealth — including the U.S. embassy in Athens.
The attacks in Athens began on Monday morning, when a mail bomb addressed to the Mexican embassy exploded at a delivery service in the Greek capital, slightly wounding one worker.
The explosion prompted authorities to search the surrounding streets, resulting in the arrest of two suspects. The suspects were in possession of mail bombs addressed to French President Nicolas Sarkozy and the Belgian Embassy. In addition to the mail bombs, the suspects were found with weapons, including handguns and bullets.
Sarkozy affirms that his office takes the threat seriously and that French authorities are working with Greek police.
“The threat is very serious. We are extremely vigilant and I am following it very closely,” Sarkozy stated during a press conference in London.
Fox News writes that one of the suspects is believed to be in connection with a radical anarchist group known as Conspiracy Nuclei of Fire. The group has already claimed responsibility for arson and bomb attacks within the past two years. In fact, three people have died as a result of attacks made by left-wing groups in Greece since 2009, and more than a dozen militants have been arrested.
Police managed to detonate the bombs found on the suspects, as well as one addressed to the Dutch Embassy found at a delivery company. Police also detonated a bomb found in the courtyard outside of a six-story building, home to the Swiss Embassy.
George Farago, a Swiss Foreign Ministry official, said its Athens embassy employees noticed the package and believed it to be suspicious based on the “traces of metal” on it. “The package burst into flames when the employees removed the external wrapping of the package. At the same moment, there was an explosion. No one was injured.”
The newest suspicious package found in Germany arrived at the mailroom in Merkel’s office at approximately 1 p.m. while Merkel was in Belgium. The sender was marked as the Greek economics ministry.
SIFY News reports, “High-level security experts told the daily Berliner Morgenpost that the package contained an as yet unknown explosive mechanism that could have detonated.”
“It cannot be ruled out that the package contains explosives,” said Merkel’s spokesman, Steffen Seibert.
While experts continue to evaluate the package, the chancellory has not been evacuated.
The L.A. Times writes, “The development raised new questions about the security of cargo and parcels. People in the transportation industry said Tuesday that there are few security checkpoints on packages transported within the European Union by road or rail.”
Likewise, Chris Yates, a UK-based aviation security consultant, explains that officials are investigating whether the suspect packages were transported by air as well.
“If they have been flown, then it rather [raises] the question whether European freight air security is up to muster at all,” he adds.
