Athens  - Greek police defused a car bomb outside Citibank's headquarters in Athens on Wednesday, hours after gunmen shot at a private television station.

Reports said the stolen car was parked in the courtyard of Citibank's offices in the northern Athens suburb of Kifissia.

Ani-bomb forces defused the home-made device after a security guard called police after seeing three men leave the vehicle.

The incident followed a spate of gun attacks across the city by suspected militant groups against police and journalists since the police shooting of a 15-year-old boy in December.

The shooting of the teenager triggered Greece's worst riots in decades.

A day earlier, unknown gunmen opened fire at a Greek private television station. No injuries were reported. No group has claimed responsibility for the shooting but officials said the weapons used were similar to those used against a police station.

A previously unknown group, Rebels Sect, claimed responsibility for the attack on the police station. dpa