(Reuters) – A bomb exploded at a branch of HSBC bank in Athens on Sunday, damaging the entrance but causing no injuries, police said.
“It appears a home-made bomb comprised of gas canisters and fuel caused small damage to the bank’s facade,” a police official said.
Gas canister bomb attacks are common in Athens and are usually staged by leftist and anarchist groups against business and political targets.
Sunday’s bombing against the U.K.-based banking group was the first since the Socialist government announced tough new austerity measures in exchange for international aid to cope with a debt crisis.
Opinion polls show the public opposes the measures and more than half of those asked in a recent survey said they would join protests against them.