The Special Suppressive Antiterrorist Unit ( el, ΕΚΑΜ – Ειδική Κατασταλτική Αντιτρομοκρατική Μονάδα, ''Eidiki Katastaltiki Antitromokratiki Monada'', EKAM) is the

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

counter-terrorism unit of the

Hellenic Police The Hellenic Police ( el, Ελληνική Αστυνομία, ''Ellinikí Astynomía'', abbreviated ) is the national police service and one of the three security forces of the Hellenic Republic. It is a large agency with responsibilities ra ...

. It is the most distinguished part of the Hellenic Police. It was formed in 1978 when two counter-terrorist units were created within the two police divisions that existed then (

Hellenic Gendarmerie The Hellenic Gendarmerie (, ''Elliniki Chorofylaki'') was the national gendarmerie and military police (until 1951) force of Greece. History 19th century The Greek Gendarmerie was established after the enthronement of Otto of Greece, King Otto ...

and the

Cities Police The Cities Police ( el, Αστυνομία Πόλεων) was a Greek police force extant from 1921 to 1984, responsible for policing urban areas. It complemented the Hellenic Gendarmerie, which was responsible for rural and suburban areas. Histo ...

), which were united into a single body in 1984, the Hellenic Police. In the beginning the Unit had only 150 men, but when Greece became the host country of the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

their number increased to 200 after reassessing the needs for the magnitude of the event.

Training

The EKAM force is based in

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

, but have several detachments spread throughout Greece's major cities. Each officer is a full-time member who must have at least five years on the force before being allowed to try out. Many receive training from the Greek Army's Ranger School before going on to the police counter-terrorism school. The Special Suppressive Antiterrorist Unit of the Hellenic Police follows a three-month training program every year. For its training modern, purpose-built facilities are being used. Training can also take place in other locations such as buildings in urban or rural areas (inhabited or not), the

Athens International Airport Athens International Airport ''Eleftherios Venizelos'' ( el, Διεθνής Αερολιμένας Αθηνών «Ελευθέριος Βενιζέλος», ''Diethnís Aeroliménas Athinón "Elefthérios Venizélos"''), commonly initialised as ...

, planes of

Olympic Airways Olympic Airlines ( el, Ολυμπιακές Αερογραμμές, ''Olympiakés Aerogrammés'' – OA), formerly named Olympic Airways for at least four decades, was the flag carrier airline of Greece. The airline's head office was located ...

, the

Piraeus Piraeus ( ; el, Πειραιάς ; grc, Πειραιεύς ) is a port city within the Athens urban area ("Greater Athens"), in the Attica region of Greece. It is located southwest of Athens' city centre, along the east coast of the Saronic ...

port infrastructure, the Hellenic Railroad system, the

Athens Metro The Athens Metro ( el, Μετρό Αθήνας, Metro Athinas, translit-std=iso) is a rapid-transit system in Greece which serves the Athens urban area and parts of East Attica. Line 1 opened as a conventional steam railway in 1869 and electrif ...

. Other places that have been decided as suitable to cover its training needs can also be used. The Unit is in constant cooperation with other Special Units abroad such as the

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...

, SAS and

ERU Eru may refer to: People *Eru (singer) (born 1983), Korean singer *Eru Potaka-Dewes (1939–2009), New Zealand actor *Syd Eru (born 1971), New Zealand rugby player Other uses

* Eru (soup), a Cameroonian soup * Eru (vegetable), a tropical Afri ...

via the

ATLAS Network Atlas Network, formerly known as the Atlas Economic Research Foundation, is a non-governmental 501(c)(3) organization based in the United States that provides training, networking and grants for libertarian, free-market, and conservative groups ...

Operations

The Special Suppressive Antiterrorist Unit of the Hellenic Police, operates all around Greece and abroad whenever is deemed necessary. It has confronted challenges such as hostage situations and it has contributed in the arrests of many dangerous criminals. The EKAM played a key role in the dismantling of the

November 17 Events Pre-1600 * 887 – Emperor Charles the Fat is deposed by the Frankish magnates in an assembly at Frankfurt, leading his nephew, Arnulf of Carinthia, to declare himself king of the East Frankish Kingdom in late November. *1183 &n ...

and Revolutionary People's Struggle terrorist organizations. In March 2003, it confronted successfully an incident on a Turkish Aeroplane which was hijacked while it flew from

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

Ankara Ankara ( , ; ), historically known as Ancyra and Angora, is the capital of Turkey. Located in the central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5.1 million in its urban center and over 5.7 million in Ankara Province, maki ...

(flight no. 160) and ended up at the Athens International Airport at the order of the hijacker. In a successful operation the Unit stormed the plane and arrested the hijacker by incapacitating him with a taser and releasing all hostages safely.

Duties

* Hostage situation response * High risk arrests * High risk VIP's escort * W.M.D (

Weapons of mass destruction A weapon of mass destruction (WMD) is a chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, or any other weapon that can kill and bring significant harm to numerous individuals or cause great damage to artificial structures (e.g., buildings), natura ...

) (C.B.R.N) hostage situation, intrusion response * Special antiterrorism operations and operations against

organized crime Organized crime (or organised crime) is a category of transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. While organized crime is generally th ...

in collaboration with the Hellenic Security Forces * Rescue operations including physical disasters in cooperation with the

Fire Brigade A fire department (American English) or fire brigade (Commonwealth English), also known as a fire authority, fire district, fire and rescue, or fire service in some areas, is an organization that provides fire prevention and fire suppression se ...

Equipment

Pistols

Glock 21 Glock is a brand of polymer- framed, short recoil-operated, locked-breech semi-automatic pistols designed and produced by Austrian manufacturer Glock Ges.m.b.H. The firearm entered Austrian military and police service by 1982 after it was the ...

.45 ACP The .45 ACP ( Automatic Colt Pistol) or .45 Auto (11.43×23mm) is a rimless straight-walled handgun cartridge designed by John Moses Browning in 1904, for use in his prototype Colt semi-automatic pistol. After successful military trials, it ...

SIG Sauer P229 Sig used as a name may refer to: * Sig (given name) *Sig, Algeria, a city on the banks of the Sig River *Sig Alert, an alert for traffic congestion in California, named after Loyd Sigmon *Sig River, a river of Algeria also known as Mekerra sig (l ...

.357 SIG The .357 SIG (designated as the 357 Sig by the SAAMI and 357 SIG by the C.I.P. or 9×22mm in unofficial metric notation) is a bottlenecked rimless centerfire handgun cartridge developed by the Swiss- German firearms manufacturer SIG Sauer, ...

FN Five-seven The FN Five-seven (stylized as Five-seveN) is a semi-automatic pistol designed and manufactured by FN Herstal in Belgium. The pistol is named for its 5.7×28mm (.224 in) bullet diameter, and the trademark capitalization style is intended to ...

FN 5.7×28mm The FN 5.7×28mm (designated as the 5.7×28 by the C.I.P. and FN 5.7x28mm NATO) is a small-caliber, high-muzzle velocity, velocity, smokeless powder, Rim (firearms)#Rebated rim, rebated rim, bottlenecked centerfire cartridge (firearms), cartridg ...

Ruger GP100 The GP100 is a family/line of double action five-shot (.44 Special), six-shot (.357 Magnum, .38 Special, & 10mm Auto), seven-shot (.357 Magnum & .327 Federal Magnum), or ten-shot (.22 Long Rifle) revolvers made by Sturm, Ruger & Co., manufacture ...

.357 Magnum The .357 Smith & Wesson Magnum, .357 S&W Magnum, .357 Magnum, or 9×33mmR as it is known in unofficial metric designation, is a smokeless powder cartridge with a bullet diameter. It was created by Elmer Keith, Phillip B. Sharpe, and Douglas B. ...

revolver * CZ75

9×19mm Parabellum The 9×19mm Parabellum (also known as 9mm Parabellum or 9mm Luger or simply 9mm) is a rimless, tapered firearms cartridge. Originally designed by Austrian firearm designer Georg Luger in 1901, it is widely considered the most popular handgun a ...

Submachine Guns

Heckler & Koch MP5 The Heckler & Koch MP5 (german: Maschinenpistole 5) is a 9x19mm Parabellum submachine gun, developed in the 1960s by a team of engineers from the German small arms manufacturer Heckler & Koch. There are over 100 variants and clones of the MP5, ...

. Versions used: MP5A3, MP5A4, MP5A5, MP5SD, MP5k and MP5k2 *

Heckler & Koch UMP The Heckler & Koch UMP (''Universale Maschinenpistole'', German for "Universal Machine Pistol") is a submachine gun developed and manufactured by Heckler & Koch. Heckler & Koch developed the UMP as a lighter and cheaper successor to the MP5, thoug ...

FN Herstal Fabrique Nationale Herstal (), trading as FN Herstal and often referred to as Fabrique Nationale or simply FN, is a leading firearms manufacturer based in Herstal, Belgium. It is currently the largest exporter of military small arms in Europe. F ...

P90

Uzi The Uzi (; he, עוזי, Ūzi; officially cased as UZI) is a family of Israeli open-bolt, blowback-operated submachine guns and machine pistols first designed by Major Uziel "Uzi" Gal in the late 1940s, shortly after the establishment of the ...

Assault Rifles

Colt Colt(s) or COLT may refer to: *Colt (horse), an intact (uncastrated) male horse under four years of age People * Colt (given name) *Colt (surname) Places *Colt, Arkansas, United States *Colt, Louisiana, an unincorporated community, United States ...

M16A4 The M16 rifle (officially designated Rifle, Caliber 5.56 mm, M16) is a family of military rifles adapted from the ArmaLite AR-15 rifle for the United States military. The original M16 rifle was a 5.56×45mm automatic rifle with a 20-roun ...

5,56×45mm *

M16A2 The M16 rifle (officially designated Rifle, Caliber 5.56 mm, M16) is a family of military rifles adapted from the ArmaLite AR-15 rifle for the United States military. The original M16 rifle was a 5.56×45mm automatic rifle with a 20-roun ...

5,56×45mm *

M4A1 The M4 carbine (officially Carbine, Caliber 5.56 mm, M4) is a 5.56×45mm NATO, gas-operated, magazine-fed carbine developed in the United States during the 1980s. It is a shortened version of the M16A2 assault rifle. The M4 is extensively us ...

Carbine 5,56×45mm *

Heckler & Koch Heckler & Koch GmbH (HK; ) is a German defense manufacturing company that manufactures handguns, rifles, submachine guns, and grenade launchers. The company is located in Oberndorf am Neckar in the German state of Baden-Württemberg, and also ...

G3A3 The Heckler & Koch G3 (''Gewehr'' 3) is a 7.62×51mm NATO, selective fire, select-fire battle rifle developed in the 1950s by the German small arms, armament manufacturer Heckler & Koch (H&K) in collaboration with the Spanish state-owned design ...

7,62×51mm *

Izhmash JSC Kalashnikov Concern (), known until 2013 as the Izhevsk Machine-Building Plant (), is a Russian defense manufacturing concern and joint-stock company headquartered in the city of Izhevsk in the Republic of Udmurtia as well as the capital c ...

AK-47 The AK-47, officially known as the ''Avtomat Kalashnikova'' (; also known as the Kalashnikov or just AK), is a gas operated, gas-operated assault rifle that is chambered for the 7.62×39mm cartridge. Developed in the Soviet Union by Russian s ...

7,62×39mm

Machine Guns

MAG Mag, MAG or mags may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''MAG'' (video game), 2010 * ''Mag'' (Slovenian magazine), 1995–2010 * '' The Mag'', a British music magazine Businesses and organisations * MacKenzie Art Gallery, in Regina, Sask ...

7,62×51mm

Shotguns

Remington 870 The Remington Model 870 is a pump-action shotgun manufactured by Remington Arms Company, LLC. It is widely used by the public for shooting sports, hunting and self-defense, as well as by law enforcement and military organizations worldwide. De ...

Benelli M4 Super 90 The Benelli M4 is a semi-automatic shotgun produced by Italian firearm manufacturer Benelli Armi SpA, and the last of the "Benelli Super 90" series of semi-automatic shotguns. The M4 uses a proprietary action design called the "auto-regulating ga ...

* Molot Vepr-12

Sniper Rifles

G3SG/1 7,62×51mm with

Carl Zeiss Carl Zeiss (; 11 September 1816 – 3 December 1888) was a German scientific instrument maker, optician and businessman. In 1846 he founded his workshop, which is still in business as Carl Zeiss AG. Zeiss gathered a group of gifted practica ...

10x42 scope *

Accuracy International Arctic Warfare The Accuracy International Arctic Warfare rifle is a bolt-action sniper rifle designed and manufactured by the British company Accuracy International. It has proved popular as a civilian, police, and military rifle since its introduction in th ...

with both 7,62×51mm and .338 Lapua Magnum with mounted

Schmidt and Bender Schmidt & Bender (often abbreviated as S&B) is a German company specialized in producing high end telescopic sights for hunting, sports, law enforcement and military arms. The company was founded in 1957 by instrument maker Helmut Schmidt and mast ...

3-12x50 scopes *

Knight's Armament Company Knight's Armament Company (KAC) is an American firearms and firearms parts manufacturer, best known for producing the Rail Interface System (RIS) and the Rail Adapter System (RAS) grips for firearms use. They currently produce a variety of firea ...

SR-25 Stoner 7,62×51mm with mounted

Leupold Leupold & Stevens, Inc. is an American manufacturer of telescopic sights, red dot sights, binoculars, rangefinders, spotting scopes, and eyewear located in Beaverton, Oregon, United States. The company, started in 1907, is on its fifth genera ...

3-12x50 scopes *

Kefefs The Kefefs ( el, Κηφεύς) or Kifefs, Kefeus is a Greek-made bolt-action sniper rifle designed by Hellenic Arms Industry in 1986 and named after an ancient mythical king. The Kefefs fires rounds chambered in 7.62 × 51 mm NATO. Design deta ...

Version P is used All the above sniper rifles can also be equipped with a special nightvision device.

Trivia

Outside international conventions the Greek name for the unit is ''Special Suppressive Antiterrorist Unit''. At the time of its creation in the late 1970s, counter-terrorist units were conceived to be the assault teams deployed as a last resort against hostage situations. Hence the "suppression" designation used as a euphemism indicating a terminal engagement against terrorists .

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Special Anti-Terrorist Unit (Greece) Hellenic Police Non-military counterterrorist organizations 1978 establishments in Greece ATLAS Network