Two Parcel Bombs Hit Embassies in Rome

[WestVirginiaRebel]

Wall Street Journal:

ROME—Parcel bombs exploded at the Swiss and Chilean Embassies in Italy's capital on Thursday, injuring two people and raising concerns of possible terrorist attacks in the country's shopper-packed streets ahead of the Christmas holidays.

The police are investigating whether violent anarchist groups are behind the bombings, said Italian Interior Minister Roberto Maroni, following similar attacks in Greece last month.

"Various elements lead us to believe that this is the correct path," he was quoted as saying by Italian news agency ANSA, according to the Associated Press. "These are very violent groups that are also present in Spain and Greece and are very well connected."

ANSA reported late Thursday that a claim by a group called the Informal Anarchist Federation, or FAI, was found in a small box near one of the wounded employees, and was being examined by antiterrorism police squad. "Long live FAI, long live anarchy," the claim said, according to ANSA.

Antiterrorism police at Rome police headquarters declined to comment on the claim.

In Athens, law-enforcement officials said Greek antiterror police were contacted in the evening by Italian colleagues but that no link with the Greek parcel bombs was immediately apparent, the AP reported.

A spokesman for Italy's police department said law-enforcement officers were carrying out inspections at other embassies in Rome. There was a false alarm at the Ukrainian Embassy.

The attacks highlight concerns that the terrorist threat in Europe is escalating. On Tuesday, British police arrested 12 men in a counterterrorism operation. Earlier this month, a suicide bomber blew himself up in Stockholm near streets frequented by Christmas shoppers, the first serious attempt by Islamic extremists targeting civilians in Sweden.
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