Police arrest three after deadly New Democracy firebombings in Thessaloniki

Greek anti-terrorism police arrested three people on July 10 over a July 1 firebombing spree in Thessaloniki that killed a 72-year-old woman and injured four other people.

A 29-year-old man was arrested in Thessaloniki, a 26-year-old woman was arrested on Crete, and a third man is accused of sheltering them after the attacks. The Counterterrorism Unit took over the case, and the search for additional suspects continued.

The most serious blast came when a crude bomb made with camping gas canisters exploded under the car of parliamentary candidate Afroditi Nestora at the entrance to her apartment building. Nestora, her father and two other residents were injured, and four vehicles burned. Two other attacks that night targeted the homes of Zisis Ioakeimidis, chairman of New Democracy’s Thessaloniki Administrative Committee, and former lawmaker Savvas Anastasiadis. Those blasts caused property damage but no injuries.

The three attacks happened within about 15 to 17 minutes of one another. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis denounced the bombings as a “cowardly terrorist and murderous act” and traveled to Thessaloniki to meet victims and their families.

The case lands in a country that has lived with politically motivated violence for decades. Recent attacks have carried familiar hallmarks, including crude explosive devices and targets tied to the state or ruling institutions. In May 2025, a woman died in Thessaloniki after a bomb she was carrying exploded as she tried to plant it outside a bank. In July 2025, a bomb went off outside the home of the president of Greece’s prison guards association. In April 2025, another explosion struck near the offices of the country’s main railway company amid public anger over the 2023 rail disaster that killed 57 people.

Police also cited a June 2024 gasoline-bomb attack that injured an officer guarding a judge’s home. On the same day as the New Democracy arrests, Athens police detained two people and sought a third over the 2010 Marfin bank firebomb attack, which killed three workers.