Police on Friday seized a homemade
explosive, the remains of several rockets with a range of up to
150 meters, fireworks, and stones from a construction site at
Chiomonte in the northern Susa Valley, where protests against
construction of a TAV high-speed rail line linking Italy to
France turned violent overnight.
The homemade explosive was made up of a small bottle of
alcohol whose trigger was attached to a firecracker, ANSA
sources said.
Some of the firecrackers had been mounted onto homemade
mortars to increase their range, police said.
The seizure came after protesters threw firecrackers and
police tried to disperse them with tear gas. One police officer
sustained burns to his ankle, police said.
Some 30 protesters against the Turin-Lyon rail link also
temporarily blocked off a motorway that leads to France, setting
tires alight.
Work at the site was suspended during the protest, but
resumed immediately after. More protests are planned for
Saturday, organizers said.
Transport Minister Maurizio Lupi said Friday that the
protests were being used to "attack the State".
"What we have here is a criminal attack perpetrated by
those who would use the project to attack the State," Lupi said.
"They will not be allowed any space".
No-TAV protests, which have sometimes turned violent, have
built up steam in recent years and been taken up by leftist and
anti-capitalist groups despite government efforts to persuade
opponents that it is an essential piece of infrastructure,
especially when Italy's economy has been suffering its longest
postwar recession.
The Italian and French governments have insisted that the
link will not only speed passenger and freight traffic but also
boost both countries' economies.
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