Greece: Former Prime Minister Papademos injured in blast

An explosion inside a vehicle in Greece's capital wounded former Prime Minister Lucas Papademos on Thursday, police said.

Papademos sustained superficial injuries to the chest, abdomen and legs and he underwent a surgery to clean the wound on his thigh, according to the press release.

Papademos, who prior to becoming prime minister had been a leading banking figure, became the face of the Greek government's harsh austerity measures during the nation's debt crisis.

A police spokesman said Papademos and two other people were hurt, apparently not seriously but that it was "too early to say".

Greek police say they intercepted several suspected packages addressed to Greek, German and International Monetary Fund officials in the past two months.

Papademos assumed the prime minister's office as head of a provisional government in November 2011 during a particularly volatile period in the Greek economic crisis. Papademos opened the envelope while he was travelling in his auto along with his driver.

Papademos, who also once served as the country's central bank governor, opened the booby-trapped envelope as his vehicle made its way through a central Athens intersection surrounded by apartment buildings, CNN Greece reported.

The group had also claimed responsibility for a spate of parcel bombings in 2010 targeting several embassies in Athens and the offices of European leaders overseas.

Greece does have a history of small-scale attacks against politicians, businesses and police.

In March, a Greek militant group named Conspiracy of Fire Cells said it was behind a parcel bomb sent to Germany's finance minister Wolfgang Schauble, which injured a postal worker.

The government described the blast as a terrorist attack.

He had previously served as vice president of the European Central Bank and as governor of the Bank of Greece.