Greek anarchist group claims attack on Athens central bank branch, protests austerity measures

ATHENS, Greece – A radical Greek anarchist group has claimed responsibility for a car bomb attack on a branch of the country's central bank in Athens, which damaged several buildings but caused no injury.

The Revolutionary Struggle group says it picked its target to protest the harsh austerity policies enforced in the bailed-out country.

Revolutionary Struggle carried out a string of bomb attacks in Greece but went inactive after several of its members were arrested in 2010,

The group says it timed the April 10 attack to coincide with Greece's return to international bond markets after a four-year exile, on the eve of a visit by German Chancellor Angela Merkel — whose country's pro-austerity agenda is widely resented in Greece.

Revolutionary Struggle claimed the attack in a posting on a leftist website Friday.