Six Greek police officers wounded in attack

Gunmen on a motorcycle opened fire on a suburban Athens police station with automatic weapons late yesterday, wounding six police officers, authorities said.

The attack occurred after Greece's new Socialist government promised to crack down on anarchist and far-left militant groups that have stepped up bombings and shootings in the wake of riots in Athens and other cities in December.

Two officers were seriously wounded in yesterday's shooting, which occurred at 0010 IST today in the Agia Paraskevi area, north of the Greek capital, police said. Four other officers were hospitalised with less serious injuries, while a bystander was treated for shock, state hospital officials said.

Two men on a motorcycle stopped and opened fire on police officers standing outside the station before driving away. The gunmen fired about 50 shots, authorities said.

Officers from the police's anti-terrorism division gathered evidence at the targeted police station, while police stopped and searched vehicles across northern Athens.

No group claimed responsibility for the shooting, but suspicion fell on far-left militant groups that have increased attacks since the December riots that were triggered by the fatal shooting of a teenage boy by police.