Bombing of Italian League office treated as terrorism

Police have confirmed that a bomb was set off outside the League’s office in Villorba, near Treviso. One explosive went off on the night between Wednesday and Thursday while bomb disposal experts removed yet another bomb, disabling the second suspected explosive device in a controlled explosion.

“A rudimentary bomb exploded outside the League’s office in Villorba (Treviso), another was found that had not gone off,” tweeted the leader of the Lega party, Deputy Premier and Interior Minister Matteo Salvini. The blast did not cause any damage to the structure or injure anyone, but it could have been much more serious.

The second device appears to have been intended as the main explosion. It was supposed to go off after the first small explosion had lured authorities and others into the area to be killed and maimed by a another bomb blast containing nails and other metal fragments.

An anarchist group calling itself the Haris Hatzimihelakis/Internazionale cell said that it was responsible for the blast.

According to League sources, the second more dangerous bomb was manufactured using a pressure cooker filled with nails. Italian far-left extremists have taken credit for the bombing that damaged the door at the entrance of the building, Italian daily Corriere Della Sera reported.

Italian investigators were able to link a far-left anarchist organisation to the bombing following a posting on 12 August which claimed responsibility for the attack. Their statement, which was published by Italian newspaper Il Giornale, claims the attack was combatting “racism and exploitation”.

“Direct action makes us clear as to why and how. For an internationalist, rebellious, Anarchist solidarity! For a world without borders or authority!” the group, known as the Santiago Maldonado Cell explained.

The bombing was the second claimed by the far-left group. In December of 2017, they were said to have been responsible for the bombing of a Carabinieri barracks in Rome declaring a “war on uniforms”. At the time, the Rome public prosecutor stated that the investigation was being treated as an act of terrorism.

Antifa released a terror handbook for “riot tourists”to Germany earlier this year encouraging attacks on officials. Detailed plans of how to make remote-detonated bombs were also linked to the website promoting the handbook.