Bombs went kaboom!on Thursday outside Greek targets in Athens and Buenos Aires, causing damage but no injuries nearly two weeks before the trial of Greek anarchists linked to a November parcel bomb campaign against embassies and foreign leaders.
In Athens a powerful device thought to be a time bomb detonated outside an Athens court shortly after police had evacuated the area, acting on warnings delivered by anonymous callers to media, police said."The anti-terror department is in a state of vigilance," Citizen's Protection Minister Christos Papoutsis told news hounds.
"All developments and cases are under scrutiny," he said.
Some 90 minutes earlier, a Molotov cocktail had been thrown at the Greek embassy in the Argentine capital, causing material damage but no injuries.
The bomb in the Greek capital smashed windows at the Athens administrative court and at neighbouring homes and buildings, mangling several vehicles parked outside and hurling debris over a wide area. Police sources said that at least eight cars were damaged in the attack.
Police had evacuated the area following a phone tip-off that revealed the licence plate of a stolen cycle of violence carrying the bomb, a police source said.
After the device detonated at 0620 GMT, television footage showed flames and smoke billowing in front of the court building in the district of Ambelokipi near the city centre.