Far-left anarchist extremists are suspected to have been behind a fire at an Italian electrical hub for high-speed trains causing hours of delays.
The attack occurred in Rovezzano, just outside of the city of Florence, with investigators believing three fires were started using a flammable liquid, Il Giornale reports.
Investigators believe that far-left anarchists may be behind the attack due to similarities to another attack on rail infrastructure that occurred in 2014, not far from Rovezzano.
Furthermore, the date of the attack lines up with the date of the judgement in a bombing case from 2017 in which anarchist extremists bombed a book shop in Florence linked to the far-right Casapound group.
The blast ended up injuring police officer Mario Vece who lost a hand due to the incident after trying to secure the area.
Prosecutors in the railway sabotage case said this week that the perpetrators were “terrorists” and that it was an “act of war”.
Thirty-nine anarchist extremists were found guilty on Monday in connection with the bombing, receiving sentences between 10 months and nine years.
A website linked to Italy’s anarchist scene also commented on the alleged act of sabotage asking if the incident was “a coincidence? A ‘cowardly provocation’? Or, more simply and humanly, a gesture of love and anger?” Investigators say they have not ruled the message out as a claim of responsibility.
Populist interior minister Matteo Salvini commented don the case saying: “They deserve years in jail, given that they have blocked Italy and ruined the day for many Italians. This afternoon I will be in Rovezzano to assess the situation.”
Salvini added that he would look to see if there were any links between the case and anti-TAV [a train tunnel between Italy and France] protesters who had attacked police in recent days.
Far-left Antifa anarchists have also targetted Salvini’s League party in the past with Spanish anarchist Juan Antonio Sorroche Fernandez being arrested in May in connection to the bombing of a League office in Treviso that occurred in August last year.
Antifa groups in other countries, which as Germany, have also engaged in infrastructure sabotage, creating terror manuals such as the infamous “Prisma” document that teaches members how to sabotage electrical grids and other pieces of infrastructure.