A newly emerged Greek urban guerrilla group, Revolutionary Class Self-Defence, has claimed responsibility for a bomb blast targeting Hellenic Train, the country’s main railway operator, in a strike it says protests chronic underinvestment in rail safety and solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, according to Reuters.
The attack marks the latest flare-up in Greece’s long history of political violence, as authorities grapple with public fury over a 2023 train crash that killed 57 people.
The group uploaded a manifesto to the Athens Indymedia website on Sunday, declaring the 11 April explosion at Hellenic Train’s offices a response to the 2023 Tempi rail disaster, a collision blamed on systemic neglect and privatisation policies during Greece’s debt crisis. The statement also linked the attack to a February 2024 bombing at the labour ministry, which the group similarly dedicated to “Palestinian resistance.”
Greek police said on Monday that an anti-terrorism unit was investigating what appeared to be a previously unknown group of guerrillas.
The bombing coincides with heightened public outrage over the Tempi disaster, which exposed dire safety failures in Greece’s rail system after its partial privatisation in 2017. Hellenic Train, now a subsidiary of Italy’s Ferrovie dello Stato, operates services but does not manage infrastructure.
Transport Minister Christos Dimas denounced the attack as a “criminal act,” stressing that “no violence brings justice.”
This is a criminal act, which endangered the lives of people, employees and passers-by, in a central point of Athens and during peak traffic hour. Nothing justifies terrorism, no act of violence brings justice. The authorities and the judiciary now have the floor.
Greece’s history of political violence dates to the 1970s, with groups like 17 November and Revolutionary People’s Struggle targeting diplomats, businesses, and state institutions. While most major organisations were dismantled by the 2000s, newer factions like Revolutionary Self-Defence have emerged, often blending controversial rhetoric with anti-austerity grievances.
