Hundreds of youths angered by the fatal police shooting of a teenager rampaged through Greece's two largest cities for a second day Sunday in some of the worst rioting the country has seen in years.
Gangs smashed stores, torched cars and erected burning barricades in the streets of Athens and Thessaloniki.
Riot police clashed with groups of mostly self-styled anarchists throwing Molotov cocktails, rocks and bottles.
Clouds of tear gas hung in the air, sending bystanders dashing for cover.
Rioting in several cities, including Hania in Crete and cities in northern Greece, began within hours of the death Saturday night of a 15-year-old shot by police in Exarchia.
The downtown Athens district of bars, music clubs and restaurants is seen as the anarchists' home base.
Soon stores, banks and cars there were in flames.
This is but the latest in a long history of rioting in Greece over the slightest of provocations or no provocation at all. It is an odd note that the last series of riots set off for the same 'reason' was also a fifteen year old boy killed by police. What is it that the police in Greece have against 15-year-old boys?
No comments:
Post a Comment