A bomb blast that damaged a tax office in a southeastern suburb of Athens in the early hours of yesterday morning was claimed by a previously unknown group calling itself Armed Revolutionary Action, which police believe to comprise the members of an established anti-state group with a similar name.

The explosion, which caused no injuries, occurred at the back of a tax office in Argyroupolis shortly after 2.30 a.m. Just after 2 a.m., an anonymous caller had telephoned the Eleftherotypia newspaper warning that the attack would take place in 25 minutes and saying that a group called Armed Revolutionary Action was claiming responsibility for the attack.

The bomb, which was set off by timer and contained 300 grams of dynamite, had been placed inside a pressure cooker in a rucksack, police said. It shattered the tax office windows and caused other minor damage when it exploded.

Officers said they believe that the attack was carried out by the group Popular Revolutionary Action – not thought to have been active since July 2005 – minus one of its members.

According to police, the group suspended its activities after an investigation into three explosions, outside construction firms, in 2005, started to lead toward one of the group’s members.

Since the police probe has failed to gain ground over the past year-and-a-half, the remainder of the group appears to have returned, using a slightly different name, officers said.

If yesterday’s attack was carried out by Popular Revolutionary Action, it is almost certain that Revolutionary Struggle, another leftist group, carried out the missile attack on the US Embassy earlier this month, police said.

According to police, Popular Revolutionary Action was accustomed to staging an attack a few days before or a few days after an attack by Revolutionary Struggle.

Immediately after the missile attack on the US Embassy in Athens on January 12, police expressed their conviction that Revolutionary Struggle had been to blame. There has still been no confirmed claim of responsibility for the attack on the embassy.