Suspected anarchists staged a barrage of arson attacks in Athens and Thessaloniki early yesterday, causing damage to firms supplying military and security equipment as well as car dealerships supplying police but causing no injuries.

The blasts in the capital, caused by gas canister bombs, targeted several stores in the city and northern suburbs. In most cases the damage was not very extensive, though the attack on a Skoda dealership in Holargos was more serious. A Suzuki car dealership in Kypseli was also targeted. The two firms supply the police with cars and motorcycles.

There was similar trouble in Thessaloniki. In one incident unidentified vandals broke into a state-run depot used to store impounded vehicles and torched four cars. Another attack involved suspected anarchists hurling Molotov cocktails at the guardhouse of the Thessaloniki International Fair premises opposite the main campus of Aristotle University.