The Special Suppressive Antiterrorist Unit (EKAM; Greek: Ειδική Κατασταλτική Αντιτρομοκρατική Μονάδα, romanized: Eidikí Katastaltikí Antitromokratikí Monáda) is the police tactical unit of the Hellenic Police. EKAM was formed in 1978 by the merger of two tactical units, one from each of the police organizations (the Hellenic Gendarmerie and the Cities Police) that existed at the time.
The first units operational in 1978 were the Special Missions Unit (MEA) of the City Police and the Special Missions Department (TEIDA) of the Hellenic Gendarmerie. EKAM originally had 150 operators; however, when Greece became the host country of the 2004 Summer Olympics, their number increased to 200 due to the magnitude of the event.[1]
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.
Training
The EKAM force is based in Athens, but several detachments are 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.[2]
EKAM holds 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, planes of Olympic Airways, the Piraeus port infrastructure, the Hellenic Railroad system, the Athens Metro.[3][4][5] 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, SAS and ERU via the ATLAS Network.[6][7]
May 2018: 5th place overall, the highest score of any European group.
May 2017: 3rd place in two of the events and 5th place overall
May 2016: 8th place overall
Operations
EKAM operates all around Greece and abroad whenever is deemed necessary.[10] It has confronted challenges such as hostage situations and it has contributed in the arrests of many dangerous criminals, playing a key role in the dismantling of the November 17 and Revolutionary People's Struggle terrorist organizations.[11][12]
In March 2003, it successfully resolved an incident on a Turkish Airlines flight, which was hijacked during a domestic flight in Turkey, from Istanbul to Ankara, and was forced to land at the Athens International Airport by the hijacker.[13] The Unit stormed the plane and arrested the hijacker by incapacitating him with a taser.[14] All the hostages were safely released.[15]
In 2022, EKAM was called to a hostage situation in the Pallini suburb of Attica after a man held 4 people hostage.[16] The man was apprehended and nobody was killed in the incident.[17]
In the same year, they were called in a hostage and domestic violence situation that lasted several hours. The perpetrator and former partner of the victim forced his ex-wife at knifepoint to follow him from her house in Galatsi to his own in Agios Panteleimonas. At home, he threatened the police units by holding a gas cylinder and a lighter, threatening to cause an explosion. According to an interview with a police officer, the suspect stated: "I will blow up the whole building, whatever is destined to happen will happen, I don't care about my life, I will go to Allah". Although the suspect and the police had established negotiations beforehand, it was established that the suspect was not going to surrender. After the building was evacuated by police, EKAM operators and other police units breached the door and arrested the man.[18][19] They were later commended by then–Minister of Citizen Protection Takis Theodorikakos.[20]
In February 2024, EKAM was called to Glyfada, after a shooting involving a 76 year old man. The suspect was a former employee of a shipping company of the Karnessis family, who had been fired after working for the company for 36 years. The perpetrator, knowing the building well, gained access from the basement and headed initially to the mezzanine floor, where he opened fire indiscriminately. Three people were killed, including the owner Maria Karnessis, the shipping company’s managing director Antonis Vlassakis, and the former captain[clarification needed] and company accountant Elias Koukoularis. A short time after, an EKAM team entered the premises of the shipping company in order to arrest the perpetrator. He was found dead in the basement with the shotgun next to him.[23] During the operation, EKAM located and evacuated two other employees of the shipping company.[24][25][26]
Special counterterrorism operations and operations against organized crime in collaboration with the Hellenic Security Forces
Rescue operations including physical disasters in cooperation with the Fire Brigade, but more specifically trained and equipped to intervene to chemical and biological attacks.[1]
^Michaletos, Ioannis (2007-02-01). "GREEK SPECIAL FORCES OUTLOOK". rieas.gr. Research Institute for European and American Studies. Retrieved 2024-04-26.
^"Counterterrorism Drills Conducted in Thessaloniki and Veria". Greek Reporter. 2023-06-03. EKAM is the Geek Police's elite counterterrorism unit, formed in 1978. The drills held last month were likely conducted by operators from EKAM 2, who are based in Thessaloniki. Most EKAM operators are based in Athens where EKAM 1 is located, but members of the 200-strong unit are present in most Greek cities across the country.
^Niakari, Katia (2022-01-04). "Αποκλειστικό: Η δραματική επιχείρηση της ΕΚΑΜ στον Άγιο Παντελεήμονα λεπτό προς λεπτό" [Exclusive: The dramatic operation of EKAM in Agios Pantelemonas minute by minute]. iefimerida.gr (in Greek). Retrieved 2024-04-26. Το iefimerida.gr φέρνει στη δημοσιότητα, την κατάθεση αστυνομικού που συμμετείχε στην επιχείρηση και στις διαπραγματεύσεις που διήρκησαν πάνω από τέσσερις ώρες μέχρι τη σύλληψη του 34χρονου. [iefimerida.gr publishes the testimony of a policeman who participated in the operation and the negotiations that lasted more than four hours until the arrest of the 34-year-old.]
^"Një egjiptian që u burgos për përdhunimin e të dashurës së tij, doli një vit më vonë dhe e bëri sërish! VIDEO" [An Egyptian who was imprisoned for raping his girlfriend, came out a year later and did it again! VIDEO]. Gazeta Shqiptare Online (in Albanian). 2023-01-10. Retrieved 2024-04-26. Për shkak të seriozitetit të situatës, në vendngjarje kanë shkuar një zyrtar gjyqësor, një negociator i posaçëm, persona të E.K.A.M., një repart i Departamentit të Agjencisë së Mjeteve Shpërthyese, një stacion E.K.A.B. dhe Zjarrfikësve, ndërsa për masa paraprake është evakuuar edhe pallati. Më në fund, në orën 20:45 të natës dhe pasi egjiptiani i dehur nuk është bindur dhe kërcënuar se do të kryente kërcënimet e tij, është kryer një operacion nga EKAM-i, ku e kanë neutralizuar. [Due to the seriousness of the situation, a court official, a special negotiator, people from EKAM, a department of the Department of the Explosive Devices Agency, an EKAB station and Firefighters went to the scene, while the building was also evacuated for precautionary measures. Finally, at 20:45 at night and after the drunk Egyptian was not convinced and threatened to carry out his threats, an operation was carried out by EKAM, where they neutralized him.]
^"«Είναι πάνω ο Άρης και πυροβολεί!»: Σοκάρουν οι μαρτυρίες εργαζομένων για το μακελειό στη Γλυφάδα" ["Ares is up there shooting!": Shocking testimonies of workers about the massacre in Glyfada]. iefimerida. 2024-02-12. Νεκρός στο υπόγειο του κτιρίου της ναυτιλιακής βρέθηκε ο 70χρονος ένοπλος που εισέβαλε το πρωί στα γραφεία της εταιρείας πυροβολώντας με καραμπίνα. [...] η ομάδα της ΕΚΑΜ τον εντόπισε στο υπόγειο του κτιρίου νεκρό με την καραμπίνα που χρησιμοποίησε δίπλα του. [...] o δράστης, αιγυπτιακής καταγωγής, πρώην εργαζόμενους που απολύθηκε πρόσφατα, σκότωσε την ιδιοκτήτρια της ναυτιλιακής, τον γαμπρό της, έναν καπετάνιο και στη συνέχεια έβαλε τέλος στη ζωή του. [The 70-year-old gunman who stormed the company's offices this morning with a shotgun was found dead in the basement of the shipping company's building. [...] EKAM found him dead in the basement of the building with the shotgun he had used next to him. [...] the perpetrator, of Egyptian origin, a former employee who was recently fired, killed the owner of the shipping company, her son-in-law, a captain and then ended his life.]
