Greece’s Counterterrorism Unit has assumed control of an investigation into three coordinated pre-dawn firebombings in Thessaloniki that killed one woman and injured four others, with investigators focusing on a network of anarchists linked to squatting activity at Aristotle University.
#Greece.#TERRORIST #ATTACKS IN #THESSALONIKI: THREE ARSON ATTACKS AGAINST #NEADIMOKRATIA REPRESENTATIVES, ONE WOMAN DIES:#Anarchist lead? The investigation has been entrusted to the #AntiTerrorism Unit of the Greek Police. pic.twitter.com/7m9joELZpM
— Donato Yaakov Secchi (@doyaksec) July 2, 2026
The attacks struck between 4:18 a.m. and 4:35 a.m. on July 1, targeting the residences of three New Democracy (ND) officials. The targets were Zisis Ioakeimovits, president of ND’s regional administrative committee in Thessaloniki, former lawmaker Savvas Anastasiadis, and ND parliamentary candidate Afroditi Nestora in the city’s Pylaia, Toumba, and Charilaou districts.
Perpetrators deployed improvised incendiary devices made from camping gas canisters. Investigators believe at least three suspects traveled by motorcycle, with one serving as a lookout.
Vagia Nestora, 72, the mother of Afroditi Nestora, died at Ippokrateio Hospital from severe burns and multiple organ failure. Afroditi Nestora was hospitalized with burns, her father was admitted with respiratory difficulties, and two other building residents were taken to hospital.
Hellenic Police sources told Ta Nea the working theory centers on a group of approximately 20 to 30 known anarchists with ties to squatted buildings in Thessaloniki and prior incidents at Aristotle University. Investigators believe experienced members may have directed younger recruits to carry out the attacks. Authorities are processing camera footage and mobile phone data.
The attack pattern bears similarities to tactics associated with the Conspiracy of Fire Nuclei, an anarchist urban guerrilla organization active in Greece since 2008.
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who visited the injured Wednesday in Thessaloniki, called Vagia Nestora’s death confirmation of the “murderous and inhumane nature” of political violence. ND political committee secretary Konstantinos Kyranakis said those responsible “aimed to kill.”
“Let those who, for years, have cultivated a culture of tolerance toward political violence reflect on their responsibilities,” Kyranakis said.
