About 6,300 schools across Italy received the same emailed bomb alert on Tuesday, and at least 300 of them had to be evacuated, Italian authorities said. No explosives were found, and the alerts are being treated as a hoax.
Education Minister Giuseppe Valditara said at least 300 schools were affected and warned that the number could rise. Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi told reporters: “There is no evidence of any real danger.” No injuries were reported.
According to Reuters, the email was signed by a purported sender named Mikhail Andropov, who described himself as the leader of the “Vilayat of Misoginistan”. The message also contained a threat against Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and other officials.
Similar emails were sent to schools in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Ireland. Police Scotland said the messages were a hoax and no schools were evacuated there, while police in Northern Ireland also classed the emails as a hoax and Ireland’s police said the messages were a hoax.
The school alerts follow a wider wave of hoax bomb threats in Europe in recent days, which has also targeted supermarkets, blood banks, air traffic and broadcasters. Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares has described the developments as apparent “hybrid aggression”. Officials have pointed to Russia and Iran as possible suspects, although both countries deny any involvement.
Source: Al Jazeera (also reported by Reuters via The Express Tribune).
