Explosion Rocks U.S. Embassy in Athens

ATHENS, Greece  —  Police cordoned off streets around the U.S. Embassy in Athens early Friday after an explosion inside the embassy compound that a senior police official said was an "act of terrorism."

The blast smashed glass in the front of the building near the U.S. emblem of the embassy.

"This is an act of terrorism. We don't know where from," Attica Police Chief Asimakis Golfis said. "There was a shell that exploded in the toilets of the building ... It was fired from street level."

Authorities searched nearby apartment buildings and a hospital amid reports that an explosive device may have been fired at the building. The blast smashed glass in the front of the building, near the U.S. emblem of the embassy.

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Blast at U.S. Embassy in Athens called 'serious attack'

ATHENS, Greece (CNN) -- An explosion at the U.S. Embassy in Athens, Greece, on Friday morning is being treated as "a very serious attack," the U.S. ambassador said.

U.S. Ambassador Charles Ries said the attack injured no one and caused "minimal damage." The entire compound in downtown Athens is a crime scene, he told reporters.

Police said the blast may have been caused by a rocket-propelled grenade, presumably fired at the building from across the street.

Greek counterterrorism authorities and U.S. officials are working to uncover who is behind the attack, Ries said. ...

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Explosion Inside US Embassy in Greece
Kim Priestap

Fox News just broke in at the top of the hour to report that according to Greece police, there was an explosion inside the US Embassy in Greece.

Here's the report from Reuters:

ATHENS (Reuters) - An explosion ripped through the U.S. embassy compound in central Athens on Friday, police said.

It was not clear what caused the blast and there was no immediate word on whether there were any casualties.

"We are investigating the cause of the explosion. We are not ruling anything out," a senior police official told Reuters.

Dozens of police cars surrounded the embassy and police cordoned off all roads in the area, including a major boulevard in front of the mission.

The senior police official did not say whether the explosion was set off inside the compound or whether something might have been thrown into the embassy grounds.

Police officials at the scene said that whatever caused the explosion damaged the official embassy sign outside the mission, but there was little other indication of the extent of damage inside. ...

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Explosion Reported Inside US Embassy Compound in Greece
Greg Tinti

A Greek police source has told Reuters that an explosion has ripped through the US Embassy compound in central Athens. At the moment, there is no information about what caused the blast but Greek police are cordoning off roads around the embassy now. Stay tuned for updates.

Update: According to the AP, state-run NET television quoted eyewitnesses as saying that an explosion had occurred in the main embassy building. The current time in Athens is 7:30 in the morning so presumably people would either arriving for work or already there.

Update: CNN is reporting that a staff member of the embassy said that blast occured 5:55 am Athens time (or 10:55 pm EST), but did not comment on "the cause, size, or scope" of the blast. Also of note:

The Athens embassy was the target of a rocket-propelled grenade attack on February 15, 1996. That attack caused minor damage.

Update: Another witness quoted by AFP claims that the explosion took place in the compound's courtyard, near the embassy's entrance, rather than in the actual embassy building.

Update:  ...

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Breaking: Explosion at U.S. embassy in Athens; Update: Rocket, “terrorism”
Allahpundit

Originating from inside the complex. No information yet as to what caused it, but “whatever caused the explosion damaged the official embassy sign outside the mission.”

Stand by.

Update: No injuries reported yet. It happened at a little before 6 a.m. local time. The Beeb reports a “mass of emergency vehicles” outside.

Update: Sounds like it was either an accident or a grenade.

The senior police official did not say whether the explosion was set off inside the compound or whether something might have been thrown into the embassy grounds…

The tightly guarded building is surrounded by a 3-meter (9-feet)-high steel fence. Guards are posted at every entrance and at street corners around it…

Local residents called in to state television saying they had felt the explosion, which shattered some windows.

Update: It doesn’t sound too terribly bad, thank god:

“Police have cut off all traffic. I am standing right here but there does not seem to be any damage. Greece’s anti-terror squad are now investigating inside the embassy,” a U.S. embassy employee at the scene told Reuters.

Update: Greek police initially said it happened on the third floor. Now they’re saying it came from outside.

Update: Via Arutz Sheva (which isn’t the most reputable news source), Voice of Israel is reporting that it was a rocket-propelled grenade.

Update: There’s a teaser up at MSNBC — “Police: Blast at U.S. Embassy was an attack.” The State Department says there are no casualties.

Update: ...

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Athens Blast Labeled Terrorist Act
Dan Riehl

Update2: Launcher Found

ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- A rocket was fired at the U.S. embassy early Friday, striking the front of the building but causing no injuries. A senior police official said the blast was an act of terrorism.

Police cordoned off streets around the heavily guarded building after the explosion shortly before 6 a.m. The shell struck the third floor and smashed glass in nearby buildings.

Investigators found the device used to fire the rocket shell at a construction site near the embassy. ...

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Steve Schippert's tracking the situation here. Definitely a rocket attack.

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Mary Katharine Ham has more here.

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See-Dubya: Glass Houses, Throwing Bombs

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Confederate Yankee: RPG-18.