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A new parcel containing explosives was found in Athens. The parcel bomb was detected on Wednesday in Athens prosecutor's office which is located in the Evelpidon judicial complex.

The officer who had found the parcel did not open it because it seemed suspicious. He took it to the entrance where a metal detector which checks the correspondence of the court is installed. There the employees found that there were explosives in the parcel.

They had immediately informed the police and the explosive dismantling unit. The controlled explosion was carried out shortly after 2:00 pm.

According to the information available so far, the explosives in the parcel were of small power. A stamp of the Athens Bar Association indicated the sender whereas the Association of Judges and Prosecutors was the recipient. Judicial sources say that the package had been sent by post and delivered to Building 6 of the judicial complex.

According to some reports, there was a piece of cardboard in the envelope which read, "Freedom for Kostas Sakas." He is the anarchist who was in custody for two years on charges of being a member of the terrorist group "Conspiracy of Fire Nuclei". In protest, he began a hunger strike as the legal term of the specific measure is 18 months. Sakas was released five days ago against a guarantee of 30,000 euro. The presence of a message in his support in the parcel bomb indicates that it had been sent before his release.

The parcel was opened a few hours after the testimony of the youths who were captured in Thessaloniki a week ago and accused of involvement in "Conspiracy of Fire Nuclei". Both were sent to detention after the prosecutor in charge of terrorism matters questioned them.

The police claim that they had sent to Dimitris Horianoupoulos, former head of the anti-terrorist service, the parcel bomb which had been on fire in the distribution postal centre on 3 July and placed a bomb in the car of the director of the prison in Korydallos. The evidence shows that they had been involved in placing a bomb in the car of an employee of the prison in Nafplio on 12 June too.

The case of the new parcel bomb is being investigated by the anti-terrorist service. The experts are looking for a link between it and the previous parcel which had exploded in the postal distribution centre.

According to police sources, the explosive device consisted of a battery, wires and an activation button, and contained a small amount of gunpowder.

At the same time, the police in Athens are still searching for the unknown persons who, yesterday, opened fire with Kalashnikovs near the police headquarters of Attica and the Court of Appeal.

Photo: ethnos.gr

They are awaiting the results of the ballistics testing of the shells of the 10 cartridges shot yesterday which will probably shed some light on the strange case which is being investigated by the anti-terrorist service.
Sources state that the anti-terrorists are interested mostly in the marks on the shells, as they will show whether the specific guns had been used in a terrorist attack in the past.

However, the authorities think at present that the attackers are ordinary criminals who were in the area in order to commit a robbery.

The shooting took place when DIAS policemen decided to check a car which seemed suspicious to them. The four policemen who were on two motorcycles saw the car turning and decided to move along the parallel street to get ahead of it and surprise it.

However, the criminals in the car stopped at the check point on the same street and made a counter-ambush. When the policemen stood in front of them, they opened fire with the machine guns.

Two of the men got out of the car and the third remained in the driving seat. All three started shooting in all directions in the centre of Athens.

The policemen were able to take cover from the flying bullets and there were no casualties or injured policemen or random citizens during the incident.

The operation to find the heavily armed criminals began several minutes later. The car by which they were moving was found later near the site of the attack.

There were no weapons inside and the investigation showed that it belongs to a Romanian citizen with residence in the suburb of Agii Anargiri. The police are investigating whether the particular person is involved in the case or if he does not know that his car has been stolen.

The attackers abandoned the car very quickly after the shooting and they are believed to have been able to escape by public transport or taxi. The car is under investigation in police laboratories in order for biological material or the fingerprints of the attackers to be found.

The police have yet another opportunity to reveal their identity. A nearby security camera has captured the attack and the recording shows all movements of the attackers, plus the policemen from DIAS have been able to remember their faces as they were not covered.

The case confirms the recent statements of Minister of Public Order and Citizens Protection Nikos Dendias that "Greece is full of Kalashnikovs." In recent years there has been an increase in the use of such weapons of war even during minor thefts and this fact is particularly disturbing the local police.