Two allied anarchist groups on
Thursday claimed responsibility for a rudimentary explosive
device that went off outside a Carabinieri police station in
Rome's San Giovanni district at around 5:30 on Thursday.
No one was hurt in the blast on Rome's Via Britannia.
The Santiago Maldonado cell of the Informal Anarchist
Federation (FAI) and the International Revolutionary Front (FRI)
said it had carried out the attack.
The reliability of the claim is being assessed.
Maldonado was an Argentinian activist found dead last October
78 days after going missing, who supported the cause of the
Mapuche indigenous people.
Police had said they were looking at the "galaxy" of small
anarchist groups for the incident.
However, they also said they were open to exploring all
leads.
The device consisted of a metal container holding gunpowder
and a fuse.
Police said the device had a timer, too.
Two hooded persons placed it in front of the police station
before fleeing, police said.
There were about 10 people inside the station at the time.
None of them were hurt, police reiterated.
It was said to resemble a rudimentary bomb that went off in a
Rome post-office car park in May.
Carabinieri Commander-in-Chief General Tullio Del Sette said
"the Carabinieri will not allow themselves to be intimidated" by
such acts.
He said "instead, they will continue with renewed commitment
their daily activity in the service of the country and its
people".
Del Sette voiced "the solidarity and sympathies of the
authorities and citizens" with the San Giovanni station
Carabinieri.
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