Italy: Hundreds of schools evacuated after bomb threats

At 10 a.m. local time on Wednesday, 312 Italian schools received the same e-mail: "A powerful explosive device with a remote detonator has been left in your building."

Most of the affected schools were in Rome, but several other major cities also got the same message.

Antonello Giannelli, head of the National Association of School Principals, said that it was "clearly the work of a hoaxer" trying to sow chaos.

Defense Minister Guido Crosetto said it was also designed to "sow terror" for thousands of families.

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's cabinet will convene an emergency meeting this afternoon, the Palazzo Chigi has confirmed.

"The government is closely monitoring the numerous reports of bomb threats at schools," Meloni said in a statement posted to social media.

"Law enforcement agencies and government institutions at every level are working to monitor the situation and reassure citizens, families, and school staff.

"At this time, based on the investigations conducted, there is no evidence to suggest that a concrete danger exists. Rather, the reports appear to be part of a strategy aimed at causing alarm."

Concerns over hybrid warfare

The threatening e-mail sent to Italian schools was signed with the same fake name as similar messages that went out to newsrooms in Bulgaria and Ireland on Friday.

Some 300 schools in Northern Ireland were also affected, though it was not immediately clear if the threats had come from the same sender.

Recent hybrid attacks on supermarkets, air traffic controllers, blood banks and broadcasters across Europe have raised worries amongst leaders that this may be part of a coordinated attempt at hybrid warfare.

France summoned the Iranian ambassador on Tuesday over cyberattacks that caused supermarket freezers to defrost, but Tehran has denied any involvement.

Crosetto also cautioned against jumping to conclusions, saying: "It is not always ​the work of foreign countries or hostile entities. There are also attention-seekers and lunatics who" simply want to unleash mayhem.