An emailed bomb threat reached about 6,300 schools in Italy and led to hundreds of evacuations; schools in Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Republic received similar messages, treated as hoaxes.
Italian authorities evacuated hundreds of schools on Wednesday, 11 November, after an emailed bomb threat, the Associated Press, via Courthouse News Service, and Reuters, via CNA, report. Italy's Education Ministry said the email reached more than 6,300 schools. Schools in Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland received similar messages, but police there treated them as hoaxes and classes were not disrupted.
In Italy, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said there was no sign of "concrete danger" and that the threats appeared meant to generate alarm; investigations were under way and she called a meeting of ministers. A copy of the email seen by Reuters also threatened Meloni. It was signed "Mikhail Andropov, leader of the Vilayat of Misoginistan", the same name used in threats sent last week to broadcasters and newsrooms in Ireland and Bulgaria.
Authorities have not attributed the threats to any group or state. CNA reports that some European officials suspect Russia of a campaign of disruption against countries supporting Ukraine, and that Iran is another suspect: France summoned Iran's ambassador on Tuesday over a cyberattack that disabled supermarket refrigerators. The school threats follow bomb hoaxes against dozens of flights across Europe last week.
Italy's Defence Minister Guido Crosetto said the threats were meant to sow fear, adding that "any one of us" can email a bomb threat and that attention-seekers, not only hostile states, may be behind such incidents. Police Scotland said its assessment was that the messages "do not represent a credible threat".
