4 “Cores of Fire” members strike at the Mall

 

Using a pressure cooker, in which they placed the bomb, the two switches, the explosive and the wiring in general, shows expertise used by the particular organization, although this evidence alone is not enough to reach secure conclusions. Reliable sources say the cameras have recorded the movements of strangers, but they have altered their characteristics. They show at least four perpetrators wearing jockey caps, but officers believe that other people took part in the attack as well. Cameras clearly show the man who left the pot at the explosion site, but his features are altered. Counterterrorism analysts are comparing suspicious shadows recorded by cameras with people of interest to the authorities regarding urban guerrilla warfare. They are also investigating whether these perpetrators included people who participated in the bloody robbery on Paros last summer.

 

Police characterized the attack as high risk, needing people with knowledge in explosives, experience in urban guerrilla warfare, and believe it was being planned for some time. It is no coincidence that the spot where they placed the bomb is almost “blind” in terms of camera coverage, which means that these unknown individuals had studied the space of the Mall well.

 

 

According to information, two things are of concern to the Hellenic Police the most. The first is the target, putting the bomb at the Mall on a Sunday morning, when they knew it would be crowded due to children's film screenings, something that has never happened in the past. About 200 people were at the Mall during that hour. And the fact that it exploded earlier than indicated by the unknown perpetrators reinforces the fears of the authorities.

 

At the same time, the exact point where the bomb was left was not an obvious one (it was on the first level, below the escalators, opposite the National Bank of Greece branch), so there was a serious risk that police might not manage to evacuate people, with potentially tragic results. The second issue is the time of the attack. It was noon and not night, which is the time that urban guerrilla warfare organizations usually strike.

 

These two things show that the new generation of terrorists has different targeting criteria. They were particularly interested in the communication part and sought to impress with their actions. Thus police are now going back to the drawing board with the plan about patrolling and guarding possible targets.

 

 

If there is no assumption of responsibility in the next few days, police officers are puzzled and fearful of a new, more serious blow. The things that alarm them the most are:

 

-       striking at the Mall shows that the perpetrators have expertise, materials and operational capabilities for impressive blows. They have a hideout and now, after two years, we have witnessed the reappearance of a bomb attack

-       possibly the perpetrators of the attacks in Syggrou and Maroussi are different, but they might have a common guide, consisting of old members in urban guerilla warfare

-       seeking to impress and provoke, they show indifference as to the risk of injuries or casualties.

 

The tens of cameras in the mall are an important weapon in the hands of the authorities, as police have identified possible movements by the perpetrators. Meanwhile, antiterrorist analysts are trying to decode their moves. The fact that the Metro was on strike, but not the Electric Rail, brings forth as a more likely scenario that they came to the Mall on motorcycles, went to the first level, placed the bomb and left quickly after activating it.

 

The Antiterrorist Unit is looking into the 18 recent attacks against journalists, political offices and parties. The fact that there is no assumption of responsibility for the attack with Kalashnikovs at the prime minister's office in Syggrou makes police compare these two attacks.