More than 1,800 schools in Italy received emailed bomb threats on Thursday, November 12, prompting many to close and parents to rush to collect their children, Al Jazeera reported, citing the Italian government.

The warnings followed similar messages sent to about 6,300 schools a day earlier. Police in Rome said “there was nothing to substantiate” the threats, while Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s office called for schools to avoid evacuations based solely on mass emails.

Meloni summoned opposition leaders for talks on how to respond to similar incidents. Her office said “buildings should not be evacuated in the absence of concrete elements beyond the mere receipt of a mass email that would suggest a genuine danger exists”. It added that schools would be instructed to act accordingly.

The government’s position contrasted with the immediate closures at many schools receiving Thursday’s warnings. The emails caused widespread disruption despite police finding no substance to the threats in Rome, according to Al Jazeera’s account.

Citing Italy’s Ansa news agency, Al Jazeera reported that the latest messages, like those sent Wednesday, were signed by someone using the name “Mikhail Andropov”. The sender presented himself as the leader of a purported group. The same purported author claimed responsibility for bomb-threat emails sent to newsrooms in Ireland and Bulgaria the previous week.

Similar threatening emails reached many schools in Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland on Wednesday. Authorities there said the messages came from abroad, classified them as hoaxes and allowed classes to continue.

The incidents also sharpened an Italian political dispute over security spending. Opposition parties accused Meloni of prioritising conventional military equipment over cyberthreats.

Elly Schlein, leader of the main opposition Democratic Party, called for stronger coordination among cybersecurity bodies and said her party had proposed redirecting some available resources towards cyberdefences.

Sources