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    Categories: Legal News

Microsoft Headquarters in Athens Attacked by Assailants

The office for Microsoft was attacked by assailants on Wednesday in Athens. The assailants drove a van through the front door of the building, which set off an incendiary device that burned the entrance to the building. Police reported no injuries in the attack, which occurred in the pre-dawn hours at the United States company’s headquarters in the capital of Greece. The building is located in the suburb of Maroussi, just north of the city’s center. Police also did not say if anyone has claimed the attack or if a warning call was issued prior to the attack.

Initial investigative information from police shows that at least three people were inside the van when it was driven into the building. The assailants, wearing hoods, forced the building’s two security guards out of the building at gunpoint before reversing the van into the front door. The assailants then ignited the incendiary device that was inside the van. Police said that the device was made of camping gas canisters and multiple containers of gasoline.

Police also said that the assailants had accomplices waiting for them to aid them in fleeing the scene, most likely using motorbikes. The van used in the attack at the Microsoft building was stolen some 40 days ago in a northern suburb. Lia Komninou, a spokeswoman for Microsoft, said that the company did not receive a warning or a threat prior to the attack. Microsoft has been operating in Greece for 20 years and employs 125 people, had been operating in the building since 2004.

Jim Vassallo: Jim is a freelance writer based out of the suburbs of Philadelphia in New Jersey. Jim earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications and minor in Journalism from Rowan University in 2008. While in school he was the Assistant Sports Director at WGLS for two years and the Sports Director for one year. He also covered the football, baseball, softball and both basketball teams for the school newspaper 'The Whit.' Jim lives in New Jersey with his wife Nicole, son Tony and dog Phoebe.

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