photo: www.kathimerini.gr
The Group of Popular Fighters first made news in January 2013, when it attacked the New Democracy headquarters on Syngrou Avenue. The attack was carried out with an RPG, but the target was not hit as the weapon misfired. While fleeing, the perpetrators fired a Kalashnikov at the building, and one of the bullets hit the office of Prime Minister Antonis Samaras.
In June 2013, a 19-page statement, assuming responsibility for the attack, was uploaded on athens.indymedia.org. The statement explains that one of the perpetrators tried to fire an RPG twice, but failed. Then the second one fired his automatic rifle at the building.
The Popular Fighters Group returned to the scene on 30 December 2013, with an attack on the German ambassador’s home on Ethnikis Antistaseos St. in Halandri. The attackers approached the residence building by crossing the lawn around the nearby tenement block and fired two Kalashnikovs at the residence.
They took responsibility for that attack with a statement of 11 February 2014 in the Pontiki weekly. The statement reveals that on 12 January 2014 group members had tried to hit with a rocket another German target – the Mercedes Benz buildings in Varibombi. But this assault was also abortive. "On Sunday, 12 January 2014, we managed to get closer to the target without being detected, and this time round we tried to avoid a repetition of last year's failure with the New Democracy offices. Yet we nearly failed again as the first shot at Mercedes was unsuccessful, again due to a defective ammunition. But we used a second rocket this time, and it reached its target," the statement said. And this is what it had to say about the shooting at the German ambassador’s home: "While firing at the ambassador’s luxury villa, the thousands who queued in front of soup kitchens for a plate of food silently stood by us."
The double-assault tactics used by the group raised concern among anti-terrorism officers. They do not exclude the possibility of further RPG attacks. The Popular Fighters Group was reportedly created by, or is at least associated with, Nikos Maziotis, who iscurrently in the Diavaton jail serving a 50-year sentence for his membership in the Revolutionary Struggle organisation.
Yesterday, Maziotis published a letter discussing recent political events in athens.indymedia. It is entitled "A decision to be taken by the armed people rather than elections." Maziotis himself, and his girlfriend Paula Roupa, who is currently wanted, had denied any link with the Popular Fighters in an older proclamation: "Revolutionary Struggle has different political criteria in its actions and choice of political targets. It also affects the selection of tools and operational methodology," they argued.