Italy is a "potential target"
of Islamic terrorism because of its "symbolic value as the
epicenter of Christianity", Italy's intelligence services told
parliament Friday.
The secret services have not detected any "activities or
plans" to conduct Islamic terrorist attacks in Italy so far,
they said.
However, the peninsula could become a "fallback" for
extremists returning to Europe after fighting with Islamic State
(ISIS) and other extremist groups in Iraq and Syria, the report
said.
There was a "significant increase" in the flow of aspiring
combatants from Europe to the Middle East in 2014, according to
the report.
At least 3,000 fighters left from Europe, of whom over 500
from the Balkans.
"The specific threat to Italy must be evaluated not only in
terms of sporadic national cases but also and most importantly
by keeping in mind the possibility that extremists who left for
Syria from other European countries could fall back on Italy,"
the report ssaid.
This is due to "relationships developed in the field
between militants of different nationalities".
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