Firebomb attacks in northern Greece target residences of governing party members

Published on 01/07/2026 - 16:37 GMT+2

Three pre-dawn firebomb attacks apparently targeting the residences of members of Greece’s governing conservative New Democracy party have left five people hospitalised, with one in serious condition, authorities said on Wednesday.

The attacks, which happened in the early hours in the northern city of Thessaloniki, were carried out using 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" and said he would visit Thessaloniki later to support his party colleagues.

The Kathimerini news website reported that the parents of former party candidate Afroditi Nestora were injured and taken to hospital and named the other two targets as the party's executive committee president Zisis Ioakimovic and former MP Savvas Anastasiades.

Police confirmed that five people were injured but did not release any names and did not say who might have carried out the attacks or suggest a motive.

The improvised explosives were made from small butane canisters, police said, and the attacks appear to have been carried out by the same people.

The officers said they were gathering video footage to help them hunt the perpetrators.

Mitsotakis said his trip to Thessaloniki was meant to "send a perfectly clear and explicit message: zero tolerance for any new form of terrorism that might appear in our country".

Left-wing opposition parties also condemned the attacks.

Leftist and anarchist groups often use improvised explosives to target political figures, banks and companies, causing damage but rarely any casualties.

A bomb exploded in July 2025 outside the Thessaloniki home of the president of Greece’s association of prison guards. The prison guard association president was unharmed but two others suffered minor injuries from shattered glass.

In June 2024, a police officer guarding the home of a top judge in Athens was injured in a gasoline bomb attack.

Additional sources • AP, AFP