Greek Police Investigate Claim of Responsibility for Athens Bombings by Hardline Group

Greek authorities are investigating claims by an unknown hardline group calling itself “Revolutionary Class Struggle” that it was responsible for two recent bomb blasts in Athens, targeting the Hellenic Train railway operator and the Ministry of Labour, Al Jazeera reports.

A police spokeswoman confirmed on Monday that authorities are examining a statement posted on the website Athens.indymedia.org by the group, which dedicated both attacks to “the Palestinian people and their heroic resistance.”

“The claim is being examined with great attention by the relevant officers so that they can gather information,” police spokeswoman Constantina Dimoglidou told Action 24 TV. She emphasized that it was too early to draw definitive conclusions about the group’s identity but confirmed that police are exploring potential links to other past incidents.

Revolutionary Class Struggle’s statement specifically blamed Hellenic Train, a unit of Italy’s Ferrovie dello Stato, for the deadly 2023 rail accident near Tempi, Greece, which claimed the lives of 57 people. The group branded the demonstrations against “state capitalist crime” that followed the crash as linked to the situation in Palestine and the war in Gaza, arguing that they took place within a country actively involved in the “American-Zionist genocidal war.”

The group also claimed responsibility for a 2024 attack on the Labour Ministry. Notably, both attacks resulted in no injuries, as warnings were reportedly sent in advance.

Hellenic Train, responsible for passenger and cargo train services, was formerly a subsidiary of state-owned Hellenic Railways. A recent report by Greece’s Air and Rail Accident Investigation Authority (HARSIA) concluded that the 2023 Tempi accident was the result of chronic safety gaps that remain unaddressed, increasing the risk of future incidents.

The head of HARSIA, Christos Papadimitriou, resigned on Wednesday, a move that is expected to further complicate efforts to fully investigate the country’s worst rail disaster. A judicial investigation into the tragedy is expected to conclude later this year.