The Italian government investigated 216 terror threats against Italy last year, concluding that Islamist cells were the “primary threat to the public interest, both Italy and abroad.” The extent of the terror threats were revealed in an anti-terrorism report presented to the department of information security. Al-Qaeda “is still playing a central role” according to the government report, and the northern region of Lombardy is one of the main strongholds of Italian radicalism “where elements already known to the police are being joined by new recruits an gradually replaced.” The report also cited the importance of the Internet in Islamist terror activity, citing that it “has become a primary reference point and source of inspiration for so-called lone terrorists seeking to wage jihad.”
