Attackers target homes of Greek ruling party figures, killing one
Attackers targeted the homes of three politicians from Greece's ruling party with homemade explosives on Wednesday, leaving one person dead and four wounded, police told AFP.
The attacks at dawn in the northern city of Thessaloniki targeted figures from the New Democracy party with devices made from gas bottles.
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the New Democracy leader, expressed "outrage and anger" at what he termed a "cowardly, terrorist and murderous attack".
The Kathimerini news website reported that the parents of former party candidate Afroditi Nestora were injured and taken to hospital.
It identified the other two targets as the party's executive committee president Zisis Ioakimovic and former MP Savvas Anastasiades.
Nestora's mother died on Wednesday evening, according to the Thessaloniki hospital where she had been taken for treatment.
The death "confirms the murderous and inhuman nature of the blind violence that exists in public life", Mitsotakis said in a statement.
Four vehicles in the garage of Nestora's home were burnt, police said.
Police did not say who might have carried out the attacks or suggest a motive. The anti-terrorist division was investigating.
Leftist and anarchist groups often use improvised explosives to target political figures, banks and companies in Greece -- causing damage but rarely any casualties.
The improvised explosives were made from small butane canisters, police said, and the attacks appear to have been carried out by the same people.
Government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis said on the radio that the attacks took place within 15 minutes.
The officers said they were gathering video footage to help them hunt the perpetrators.
Mitsotakis said he would visit Thessaloniki with ministers on Wednesday evening to support party members.
The visit would "send a perfectly clear and explicit message: zero tolerance for any new form of terrorism that might appear in our country", he said.
Left-wing opposition parties also condemned the attacks.
"All forms of political violence are absolutely to be condemned," far-left party Syriza said in a statement.
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© Agence France-Presse
