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Unknown gunman injures police officer in Greek capital

Police clash with protesters in the central district of Exarchia in Athens, Greece, on December 6, 2016. (Photo by AFP)

A Greek police officer has been injured after an unidentified gunman attacked him outside the offices of a political party in the capital Athens.

The assailant opened fire at riot police guarding the headquarters of the Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK) political party in central Athens early on Tuesday.

Police said the officer was hit as he was sitting in a truck outside the building, giving no further details regarding the circumstance of the incident. The victim sustained non-life-threatening injuries and was taken to a nearby hospital.

According to the police, three rifle shells had been found at the shooting site. No individual or group has yet claimed the responsibility for the attack.

The incident occurred in an area of the capital, where anarchist groups often clash with police and vandalize symbols of authority.

Small-scale assaults on businesses, police forces, politicians and embassies are quite common in Greece.

The shooting on Tuesday came a day after police announced that they had found the body of 54-year-old Andrey Malanin, the head of the consular section at Russian Embassy in Greece, in his apartment in the capital.

They said that the victim’s body bore no visible wounds and that there were no signs of burglary in his apartment.  

Greece has been engulfed by an unprecedented economic crisis since 2009, prompting Athens to receive three bailouts— in 2010, 2012 and 2016  worth 315 billion euros from international creditors.

Athens says it has to reduce public spending, facilitate job layoffs, and introduce higher taxes to compensate for its bailout.

The measures, however, have infuriated the people and triggered numerous protests against Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, who came to power on an anti-austerity platform.


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