Ten suspects indicted on terror charges

crackdown on homegrown terror groups has led officers to the discovery of explosives in the home of a Hellenic Air Force (HAF) serviceman, the police said on Wednesday.

As an armorer in the HAF, the suspect's duties would include the maintenance and repair of small arms and weapons systems. It is however unclear whether the explosive materials found at his house were obtained from the military. Kathimerini understands that when he was arrested, the man had been on extended leave from the military due to health reasons.

The man is one of 10 accused of participating in a terrorist organization and was arrested.

Among other charges, the 10 suspects have are accused of attempted murder, placing and detonating makeshift explosive devices in front of Athens banks, throwing a grenade into the vehicle of a correctional officer, mailing a parcel bomb to a Thessaloniki courthouse, and illegal possession of firearms and narcotics for personal use.

Police were apparently led to the 10 suspects through a moped with different colored rims, the genetic fingerprint on duct tape found on the booby-trapped parcel, handwritten notes and other “blunders.” They were prosecuted on Wednesday for forming and joining a terrorist organization.

Four of the 10 men accused of terrorism had already been imprisoned for crimes such as theft. Police, however, say that none in the group had participated in any anarchist/anti-authority organizations in the past. In addition to the HAF armorer, another member of the group was also part of the Armed Forces, serving as a machine-gunner at the Defense Ministry in northern Athens.