School Bomb Alerts Hit Italy and Northern Ireland
Italy believes the threats are hoaxes, but it cleared hundreds of schools anyway. Officials say someone wants to spread fear across Europe
ROME, Nov 11 – At least 300 schools in Italy were evacuated on Wednesday after receiving bomb threats by email, the government said. Schools in Northern Ireland also received threats.
It is the latest in a series of threats and cyberattacks across Europe. In recent weeks, they have targeted supermarkets, blood banks, air traffic and television stations.
Italian Education Minister Giuseppe Valditara told the La7 channel that the alerts were believed to be hoaxes. He said the number of schools affected was likely to rise.
In Rome, one school told parents through a messaging app that all students had been moved to a safe area, where teachers were continuing to look after them.
The email sent to Italian schools was signed by a “Mikhail Andropov,” who described himself as the leader of the “Vilayat of Misoginistan,” according to a copy seen by Reuters.
The same name was used last Friday to claim responsibility for email bomb threats sent to newsrooms in Ireland and Bulgaria.
In Northern Ireland, a large number of schools also received a threatening email, the Education Authority said. However, it advised them to remain open, saying police did not consider the threat credible.
Italian police are looking into the threats, a spokesman for the Rome police said. Investigators are working to determine who sent the emails and whether they are connected to the other recent threats and cyberattacks across Europe.
Defense Minister Guido Crosetto said the threats were part of a plan that is now quite clear: “To spread fear and create anxiety,” according to the Adnkronos news agency.
But he said not every threat comes from foreign states or hostile groups. Some are the work of people seeking attention, he said, who cannot wait to spread terror at a time like this.
It is not the first wave of threats to target Italian schools this month.
On November 2, an email claiming to be from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps was sent to 271 schools across Italy. It named a Ryanair flight from Riga to Rome that was airborne at the time. Italian officials have not confirmed who sent the email or linked it to Iran.
The following day, bomb alerts on passenger aircraft prompted searches and route changes across Europe. In Poland, a flight from London to Warsaw was diverted to another airport, while in Italy the air force escorted a Ryanair flight from Dublin to Rome.
In October, schools in several Italian cities, including Arezzo, Frosinone and Verona, were evacuated following a bomb threat via email.
The threats come amid rising tensions between Europe and Iran. On Tuesday, France summoned Iran’s ambassador after accusing Tehran of carrying out a cyberattack that disabled refrigerators in hundreds of French supermarkets in October. French officials said a unit linked to the Revolutionary Guards was behind the attack.
Iran’s foreign ministry rejected the allegations, calling them “baseless and hostile.”
A second wave of refrigerator hacks affected more than 100 sites across Europe this month, including refrigerators used by French blood banks. The incidents have raised concerns among European officials about the growing use of digital tools to disrupt public services and spread fear.
Some European officials also fear that the hoax threats may be part of a broader campaign of “hybrid” attacks. Many have blamed Russia for such a campaign, which they say targets countries supporting Ukraine. Moscow has denied any involvement.
So far, no one has been charged in connection with Wednesday’s threats, and no bombs were reported found. Authorities are continuing to investigate the emails and assess whether they are linked to the earlier incidents across Europe.
