Sepolia

Greek anti-terrorism squad officers cordon a street in Sepolia district in Athens, Greece, 19 March 2020. Photo: EPA-EFE/PANTELIS SAITAS

Investigations began months ago following information provided to the Greek National Intelligence Service, NIS, by the Israeli secret service Mossad.

An armored car guard was robbed at gunpoint on Wednesday morning while he was loading cash in an ATM located at the entrance of a supermarket in the district of Sepolia, central Athens.

The three suspects confronted the guard, removed the cash boxes and fled with an undisclosed amount, police said. The incident took place shortly after 11 a.m.

The family of Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo donated 20,000 surgical masks which will be equally divided between the municipality of Zografou in central Athens and the city's Organization of Culture, Sports and Youth (OPANDA) to help employees protect themselves against the new coronavirus.

Counterterrorism officers discovered a secret 20-meter-long underground tunnel during a raid on a property in the Athens district of Sepolia on Thursday that contained heavy artillery, including anti-tank weapons, Kalashnikov rifles, pistols and hand grenades.

Police were investigating possible links to Turkish far-left terror group DHKP-C.

A 60-year-old Turkish man known to Greek authorities by the codename "Kostas" is among 26 people who were remanded for questioning on Thursday following a counterterrorism operation in the central Athens districts of Exarchia and Sepolia.

Greece's anti-terrorism service raided a house and an office of a rights committee for Kurds in central Athens on Thursday, detaining 26 people on suspected of links to a far-leftist militant group outlawed in Turkey, police sources cited by state-run news agency ANA-MPA said.

A counterterrorism operation was underway on Thursday in at least two areas of Athens, according to police sources cited by state-run news agency ANA-MPA.

The report said the sweep is not related to domestic terror groups.

The municipality of Athens on Friday announced that it is suspending the operation of cultural venues and indoor sports facilities, in line with official guidelines for containing the spread of coronavirus.
Among the venues to be closed is the Athens Technopolis in Gazi.

Counter-terrorism officers in Athens have raided what they believe to be a second hideout of an escaped convict and suspected member of an urban guerrilla group who was arrested on January 30 while on the run from prison. The suspect, identified as Yiannis Michalidis, had been convicted to 13 years in prison for an armed attack against police in 2015.

A group of self-styled anarchists have vandalized a chapel in the suburb of Sepolia, west of Athens city center.

The vandalism is believed to have taken place late Monday. The assailants broke into the chapel and spray-painted five of the religious icons displayed in the shrine.