Fifty potential targets of terrorist attacks in Athens, including ten diplomatic missions in Greece and dozens of businesses of Israeli and American interests in Crete, Rhodes, the Cyclades island group have been included in the plan prepared by the Hellenic Police, in collaboration with the Hellenic Security Service, for the possibility that they… might come into the eye of “lone wolves” or domestic terrorist cells due to what is the war in the Middle East.
For Greek Police, the war in the Middle East, makes the risk of terrorist attacks in Greece visible.
Sources from the Greek Police told news website newsit.gr that for the first time in recent years, the risk of an attack even in our country is visible, as analysts characteristically report that “Iran is a country that exports terrorism to Europe”.
The country’s major airports have been put on red alert and all passengers entering Greece who have a suspicious profile and come from specific countries are being “scanned”.
At the same time, the network of information and cooperation with all the authorities and services of the allied countries has been opened on a 24-hour basis.
Even people who enter the country illegally through human traffickers are now being checked thoroughly, while domestic extremist cells have also been placed under increased surveillance.
The Souda bay has also been marginally included in the eyes of the Hellenic Police, in an effort to rule out even the slightest possibility of strange movements near to the US air and naval bases.
Restaurants, schools, synagogues and hotels
The Anti-Terrorism and State Security Service, in collaboration with the National Security (EYP), have spread an unprecedented protection net, extending from the American, Israeli and eight other embassies and reaching specific school complexes, synagogues, restaurants, hotels and businesses.
As officers familiar with the operational planning characteristically told newsit.gr, it is impossible for anyone to approach the embassies, where security measures have increased dramatically, and the concern is focused on the rest of the possible targets.
All those responsible for the specific operations have been informed and what they want in the first phase is for the security measures to be very visible, so that they act as a means of deterrence.
For this reason, police officers from various services have also entered the operational plan, so that the possibility of an incident is eliminated. It is characteristic that the chief officers of the operational planning, in compiling the list of possible targets, identified dozens of large businesses of American and Israeli interests, not only in Athens but also in Crete, Rhodes and the Cyclades, where Israeli businessmen have made large investments, mainly in hotel units.
