Incident Summary:

02/17/2013: At least 30 assailants attacked Hellas Gold facilities at a prospective gold mine in Skouries area, Central Macedonia region, Greece. The assailants set fire to vehicles and equipment and doused security guards in gasoline; at least two guards were injured in the attack. One suspect was arrested the next day. Specific motive is unknown; however, local residents have expressed concern about the environmental impact of the mining operation.

GTD ID:
201302170041

When:
2013-02-17

Country:
Greece

Region:
Western Europe

Province/administrative
region/u.s. state:

Central Macedonia

City:
Stratoni

Location Details:
The incident occurred in the Skouries area.

Attack Information
Type of Attack (more) Facility/Infrastructure Attack
Successful Attack? (more) Yes
Target Information (more)
Target Type: Business
Name of Entity Eldorado Gold
Specific Description Gold Mining Site
Nationality of Target Canada
Additional Information
Hostages No
Ransom No
Property Damage Yes
Extent of Property Damage Minor (likely < $1 million)
Value of Property Damage Unknown
Weapon Information
Type Sub-type
Firearms Rifle/Shotgun (non-automatic)
Incendiary Molotov Cocktail/Petrol Bomb
Melee Blunt Object
Weapon Details
Metal bars, Molotov cocktails, chainsaws, petroleum, and shotguns were used in the attack.
Additional Information
Suicide Attack?No
Part of Multiple Incident?No
Criterion 1 (more) Yes
Criterion 2 (more) Yes
Criterion 3 (more) Yes
Doubt Terrorism Proper (more) No
Additional Information Casualty numbers for this attack conflict across sources. Following GTD protocol, the most recent estimates are reported here. Sources also conflict on the number of perpetrators involved in this incident. According to GTD protocol, the lowest number of perpetrators are reported.
Perpetrator Group Information
Group Name Claimed Responsibility
Unknown No
Perpetrator Statistics
Number of Perpetrators 30
Number of Captured Perpetrators 1
Casualty Information
Total Number of Casualties 0 Fatalities / 2 Injured
Total Number of Fatalities 0
Number of U.S. Fatalities 0
Number of Perpetrator Fatalities 0
Total Number of Injured 2
Number of U.S. Injured 0
Number of Perpetrators Injured 0
Sources
"Assailants attack gold mine in northern Greece," dpa International Service in English, February 17, 2013.
"Greek Left-wing activist arrested over arsonist attack at Greek gold mine," Philippines News Agency, February 19, 2013.
"Hellas Gold site targeted," EKathimerini.com, February 17, 2013.