9 arrested in Athens over links to banned Turkish group

Nine people of Turkish nationality were arrested after a raid on three apartments here by Greece's counter-terrorism squad, the Greek police announced on Tuesday.

The arrested, eight men and one woman, are allegedly members of the DHKP-C, Turkey's extreme-left Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front, Greek national news agency AMNA reported, citing police sources.

According to a statement released by police, one of the suspects is pending an active national arrest warrant for a case involving the transportation of munitions using a speedboat that was intercepted near Chios island in the northern Aegean Sea in July 2013 and was linked to the DHKP-C.

Greek anti-terrorist police raided three houses in the Kallithea and Neos Kosmos districts of Athens and found material for the construction of bombs, a CZ pistol, digital material including computers and USB sticks, and travel documents.

All nine suspects will appear before a prosecutor on Wednesday, police said.

The DHKP-C is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States, and the European Union (EU). The outlawed group has been blamed for a string of attacks and suicide bombings in Turkey since 1990.

(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)