News reports are still coming in about the latest attack on U.S. interests abroad. According to Reuters a huge explosion ripped through the embassy at 5:55am local time on Friday morning (10:55PM EST).
Reuters:
ATHENS (Reuters) - An explosion ripped through the U.S. embassy compound in central Athens on Friday, a police source said.
It was not clear what caused the blast and there was no immediate word on whether there were any casualties.
Police cordoned off all roads around the embassy.
Police officials at the scene said that whatever caused the explosion damaged the official embassy sign outside the mission, but there was little other indication of the extent of damage inside.
What was that meme Bush was saying about keeping the war in Iraq? Anyways, hopefully no one was seriously hurt and the damage is only to the building.
Update #1Apparently the blast occurred outside the building and only shattered some glass on the third floor. No one was injured in the blast. This was the first attack on the embassy since a rocket propelled grenade was fired at it on February 15, 1996.
Update #2
Apparently it was a terrorist attack after all, according to the AP:
ATHENS, Greece - An anti-tank shell was fired at the U.S. Embassy early Friday, striking the front of the building but causing no injuries. A senior police official said the blast was an act of terrorism, raising fears of a resurgence of far-left Greek militant groups.
Police cordoned off streets around the heavily guarded building after the explosion shortly before 6 a.m. The shell struck the third floor and smashed glass in nearby buildings.Investigators were examining what they believed was the device used to fire the rocket shell from a construction site near the embassy.
"This is an act of terrorism. We don't know where from," Attica Police Chief Asimakis Golfis said. "There was a shell that exploded in the toilets of the building ... It was fired from street level."
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