Bomb threat at 6,000 schools; Meloni meets with intelligence chiefs. Lessons to go ahead as normal tomorrow

The Milan Public Prosecutor’s Office is awaiting a report from the Postal Police and the DIGOS to open an investigation against persons unknown on suspicion of causing alarm and public intimidation following the bomb threats that affected the city and the province. In particular, according to information obtained by Adnkronos, the total number of schools affected has risen significantly over the course of the day: more than 250 schools in Milan and the surrounding province (meaning other public prosecutor’s offices will also be involved) have been targeted by the email containing threats and intimidation, to which most schools responded by evacuating the premises. The case has been assigned to the Milan Anti-Terrorism Unit.

A single email sent to schools across Italy triggered evacuations at dozens of schools of various levels in cities across the country. At present, over a hundred schools have raised the alarm, but the number is rising. “We have come to annihilate you. We will carry out a genocide against the Italians,” read the message signed by Mikhail Antropov, leader of the Vilayat of Misoginistan. The email refers to a “powerful device” left inside the building in a plastic bag “with a remote detonator”.

The email originated from a compromised profile at Daye University in Taiwan, a private university on the island. Initial investigations suggest it may be linked to the account of a former student that was hacked. The email header also contains Chinese characters that can be translated as the name Liu Fang-chun. The brief message contains references to similar incidents that have occurred in recent days: first and foremost Mikhail Andropov, the name that appeared in the claim of responsibility for the hoax bomb threats on board aeroplanes and at the premises of several European television broadcasters (including Ireland’s RTE and Bulgaria’s Nova TV). In the message, Andropov describes himself as the leader of the ‘Vilayat of Misoginistan’. The Vilayat-i Faqih is a theory according to which, in the absence of the Imam and whilst awaiting his return, the jurist (faqih) has the authority to safeguard and uphold the interests of the community; it is the founding principle of the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran. In recent days, France has attributed the cyber-attacks on the cold chain to Iran. Finally, ‘Misoginistan’ appears to echo the elusive ‘Fighters of the Male State’, an ultra-nationalist Russian group that has signed other emails containing bomb threats on aeroplanes.

“Futuro Nazionale regrets what it hopes was merely an institutional oversight.” This was stated by Fn MP Rossano Sasso during a speech in the Chamber of Deputies, referring to Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s invitation to the opposition parties to meet at Palazzo Chigi tomorrow morning following the bomb threats. “We are here; we have not received any invitation. Either there has been an oversight – which is very regrettable, because on issues such as national security we must stand united – or there is someone who regards us as outside the parliamentary process. We would never want to think that someone within the government was afraid to invite a general from the Folgore Brigade – who would certainly have something to say on security matters – to a round-table discussion.”

The meeting between the students and Prefect Giannini has ended. “These bomb threats coincide with a student movement that has occupied more than 40 schools in Rome and more than 150 across Italia. It worries us greatly because there could be a strategy of creating tension behind the scenes,” explains Tommaso, a student with Cambiare rotta. “We have asked for two very simple things,” explains Tommaso, “safety in the school environment for students who do not want to go to school facing this kind of risk and this kind of tension and fear, and we have also asked for a meeting with the Ministry of Education and Merit.” “As for the occupations still underway, I would say that they have held firm, as the students have demonstrated – for example, at the Minghetti High School in Bologna, which I would like to mention – where they responsibly allowed inspections to take place whilst maintaining the occupation. This has also happened in other schools across the country and in the Rome area. The struggle continues and the occupations continue.” After the meeting, the protest gathering outside the Prefecture dispersed.

The email reporting a bomb threat at schools also contains a threat against the Prime Minister. ‘We have planted a bomb in the engine of your Prime Minister’s car,’ writes the sender, identified as Mikhail Andropov, leader of the Vilayat of Misoginistan.

“Let’s not give in to alarmism, because it is clear from the content of the email that the actual risk is virtually non-existent; in all likelihood, this is a cyberattack rather than a real threat, but the strategy must be devised in consultation with the intelligence services.” This was stated by the Minister for Education, Giuseppe Valditara, on La 7. “We will hold a meeting with the other ministers, decide on a strategy and then stick to it,” he added. “But I would like to reassure everyone: the high number of schools involved demonstrates how unreliable this is.”

The frequency and variety of false bomb threats – “which do not only affect schools, but also transport and other sectors – suggest a strategy rather than the actions of a single mythomaniac”. This was stated by the Minister for Education, Giuseppe Valditara, at a press conference in Brussels. “The security services are investigating, and the judicial authorities will then take over. Obviously, at this stage, it could be anything: it could be hoaxers, or it could be part of a strategy,” he observed. “It will be the forces professionally tasked with carrying out this work who will have to provide us with information, and then the judicial authorities, who are already investigating.”

“It is part of a strategy that is now clear: that of sowing terror or causing concern – which is all too easy. Any one of us could, with the means and tools at our disposal, send an email to a school, a nursery or an airline saying there is a bomb.” Defence Minister Guido Crosetto made these remarks regarding the bomb threats received at various schools in Rome in the last few minutes, on the sidelines of the *Il Sole 24 Ore* event: ‘The Changing Country’, warning that ‘we will see more and more of this, because, unfortunately, the mother of fools is always pregnant’.

“Any statement made in the heat of the moment risks being ill-timed and inappropriate. It is premature to speak of a coordinated operation.” This was stated by the Minister of the Interior, Matteo Piantedosi, in Orvieto, whilst commenting on the wave of bomb threats that has affected numerous Italian schools. “The investigators working on the case will have to comment on the possibility of a coordinated campaign,” added the minister, urging caution regarding possible responsibilities. Piantedosi went on to observe that “there is a string of incidents which, at the very least in the form of copycat behaviour, share the common feature of attempting to overwhelm the public system through alerts which, fortunately, often turn out to be unfounded”. The statements come following threats sent by email this morning to hundreds of Italian schools, which led to precautionary evacuations and checks by the police.

There were bomb threats this morning at 6,000 schools across Italia, but not a single one in Trentino-Alto Adige. According to Philipp Achammer, the councillor for German-language education in the Province of Bolzano, who was interviewed by ANSA, the likely reason lies precisely in the region’s autonomy. “It is certainly due to the fact that we have an autonomous system and we also have different email addresses. Therefore, our emails do not pass through the Ministry’s system. Given that neither the German-speaking nor the Italian-speaking schools in South Tyrol received any threatening emails, this must be the reason,” added the councillor.

It is not just in Italia. A new wave of bomb threats has hit numerous schools across Europe, with reports of threats via email and, in some cases, the evacuation of school buildings. Similar incidents have also been reported in Scotland and Northern Ireland, where the police have launched investigations into the origin of the messages. This is the latest in a series of threats that, in recent weeks, have also affected other European countries, including Serbia and Hungary.

In Northern Ireland, the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) confirmed today that it had received reports of numerous schools receiving threatening emails. The police announced that they were launching urgent investigations, in collaboration with the schools concerned. Among the buildings evacuated was Victoria Primary School in Newtownards, whilst lessons continued at other schools following reassurances from the police.

Today’s spate of incidents bears similarities to what happened on 19 October, when up to 300 schools in Northern Ireland received almost identical threatening messages, apparently originating from abroad. On that occasion, the authorities ruled out any real danger, classifying the incidents as false alarms. Similar reports emerged around the same time in Scotland and, in the days that followed, also in Hungary and Serbia, with threats directed at schools in Budapest and Belgrade.

These incidents form part of a wider European context that has also been marked by recent threats to air traffic. Between 5 and 6 November, numerous flights across various European countries were affected by bomb threats, whilst in Ireland, a number of radio stations and news organisations were forced to evacuate their premises.