Athens, May 03: A home-made bomb has gone off at a branch of the HSBC banking group in Athens, damaging the building but leaving no casualties, police say.
Police say the bomb was apparently a home-made explosive device made of gas canister and fuel.
“It appears a home-made bomb comprised of gas canisters and fuel caused small damage to the bank’s facade,” Reuters quoted a police official as saying on Sunday.
Gas canister bomb blasts are common in Athens where bombers usually target business and political buildings.
The bombing follows Greek government’s announcement of austerity measures (budget cuts of 30 billion euro) on Sunday to tackle its debt crisis.
The measures were taken in exchange for the emergency loans from the European Union the International Monetary Fund to rescue the nation’s embattled economy.
However, a poll showed on Friday that more than half of Greeks would take to the streets if the government agrees to new austerity measures.
The government says it will slash pensions, hike taxes and halt year-end bonuses to secure the loans and beat bankruptcy.
On Saturday, police clashed with demonstrators in Athens that were protesting austerity measures.
The austerity Measures include a further reduction in public sector pay and pensions, a rise in value added tax (VAT) to 23 percent from 21 percent and a 10 percent hike in fuel and alcohol taxes.
—Agencies