Home-Made Bomb Explodes at Greek Government Office

A home-made firebomb exploded in the early hours of Monday in Athens in front of a building housing offices of Greece's Administrative Reform Ministry, police said.

The explosion at 1:52 am (2252 GMT) in front of the ministry annex started a fire that seriously damaged the building's ground floor and a car parked nearby.

Greek police blame the country's recent surge in firebombs on the anti-government protests that have shaken crisis-hit Greece since it began imposing austerity measures under an international bailout.

The attacks typically target government buildings, banks, embassies and foreign companies.

Last week a group calling itself the February 12 Movement -- the date parliament passed a new round of austerity measures imposed by the EU and IMF -- claimed a late-February firebomb attempt in the Athens subway, the first attack on the public transport system.

Administrative Reform Minister Dimitris Reppas recently announced a series of measures to slash the number of government workers, a move demanded by the country's creditors.