“We want to wipe you out,” reads part of the threat in a letter sent to Italian schools just before 10 a.m.
The message was sent from an address linked to the domain of Dayeh University in Taiwan and signed by a person calling himself Mikhail Andropov, according to La Repubblica.
The same signature has previously been used in threats against European television companies and a large number of flights, as well as in threats against Irish media.
The sender claims that remotely detonated explosive devices have been placed in several Italian school buildings. Classes have now been suspended in Rome, Milan, Naples, Palermo and Bologna, and more than 300 schools are being evacuated.
Italy's Education Minister Giuseppe Valditara says the incident is likely a cyberattack rather than a direct threat.
“It is clear from the content of the email that in practice it poses no real risk,” Valditara told the La7 television channel, according to Ansa.
Ireland and Scotland
Several schools in Scotland and Northern Ireland have also received bomb threats. However, security checks at Londonderry Primary School in Newtownards have been completed and revealed nothing, according to the Belfast Telegraph.
“Everything indicates that this is again a false alarm, and therefore business has continued as usual,” the school wrote in a statement to parents.
In Scotland, police are treating the emails as hoaxes, according to television channel STV News.
“Our investigations have shown that there is no indication that they pose a credible threat or that there is any wider threat to the public,” a police spokesman said.
“Larger pattern”
Asked about the bomb threats, Italian Defence Minister Guido Crosetto said that the threats could also be the work of myth-mongers and idiots.
“Any one of us can send an email to a school, a kindergarten or an airline claiming there is a bomb. This is part of a larger pattern - one that also attracts idiots. It is not always about the strategies of foreign powers or hostile actions,” he said.
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