Italy: At least 300 schools across Italy were evacuated on Wednesday after receiving identical bomb threat messages, triggering a nationwide security response. Authorities suspect the alerts may be hoaxes, although police have launched an investigation.
Education Minister Giuseppe Valditara told Italian television channel La7 that the threats were considered to be false alarms. He added that the number of affected schools could increase.
A school in Rome informed parents through a messaging application that all students had been moved to a safe location and were being supervised by teachers following the nationwide alert.
Valditara said the large number of schools receiving the same threat raised doubts about its credibility.
Who Sent The Bomb Threat Messages?
According to a copy of the email seen by Reuters, the message was signed by an individual identifying himself as “Mikhail Andropov, leader of the Vilayat of Misoginistan”.
The same purported sender had also claimed responsibility for bomb threat emails sent to newsrooms in Ireland and Bulgaria on Friday.
However, the identity of the sender and the authenticity of the claims have not been established.
A spokesperson for Rome police confirmed that Italian law enforcement agencies were investigating the incident.
Italy Bomb Threats Amid Concerns Over Hybrid Warfare
The incident comes amid growing concerns across Europe about so-called hybrid warfare threats. Such threats and disruptive activities have reportedly targeted a range of public and critical infrastructure, including supermarkets, blood banks, air traffic systems and television broadcasters.
The evacuation of hundreds of schools has added to security concerns, even as Italian authorities suspect the latest alerts may have been hoaxes.
