U.S. Embassy in Athens Attacked

An antitank rocket hit a perimeter wall of the U.S. Embassy in Athens on Thursday, damaging three parked cars, authorities said.

There were no injuries in the blast, which appeared to be aimed at the embassy, a police spokesman said, and the White House strongly condemned the attack.

Police headquarters said that a previously unknown group calling itself National Struggle claimed responsibility in a phone call to Athens’ private Antenna television channel an hour after the blast. It was not clear whether the claim was genuine.

The only Greek group to have used antitank missiles is the leftist November 17 terrorist organization, which has targeted Americans and Turks, as well as Greeks, in the past. November 17 is fiercely nationalistic and is opposed to Greece’s membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the European Union.