Rome, Italy(National Times)- More than 300 schools in Italy were evacuated on Wednesday after hoax bomb alerts in several European nations, the latest in a series of threats and cyberattacks on supermarkets, blood banks, air traffic and TV broadcasters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland said many of their schools also received a similar email threat from abroad but it was quickly classed as a hoax and did not disrupt classes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In Italy, many parents had to drop what they were doing and hurry to the school gates to collect children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMy daughter Dafne started crying because the kids did not understand what was happening, and she was still shaken when I picked her up,\u201d said Nensi Bego, parent of a child at the Mazzini middle school in Rome.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis is so annoying. It\u2019s obvious it\u2019s just a hoax that disrupts lessons and disrupts everyone\u2019s day.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said the bomb alerts posed no danger and that police and other public bodies were monitoring the situation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAll students have been taken to a safe area and remain under the supervision of teaching staff,\u201d one school in Rome informed parents through a messaging app.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The email received in Italy was signed \u201cMikhail Andropov, leader of the Vilayat of Misoginistan,\u201d according to a copy of the message seen by Reuters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The same purported author claimed responsibility for email bomb threats sent on Friday to newsrooms in Ireland and Bulgaria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
People gather outside the A.B. Cairoli primary school after it was evacuated following a bomb alert that prompted evacuations in at least 300 schools across Italy, in Rome, Italy, on November 11, 2026. \u2014 Reuters
Russia and Iran deny accusations
Some European officials suspect Russia may be behind a campaign of disruption to everyday life in European nations supporting Ukraine after Moscow\u2019s invasion. Russia denies that and accuses the West of a smear campaign.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Iran is another suspect. France summoned Iran\u2019s ambassador on Tuesday after accusing Tehran of a cyberattack that disabled refrigerators in hundreds of supermarkets last week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Iran rejected those accusations as \u201cbaseless and hostile\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Italian Defence Minister Guido Crosetto said Wednesday\u2019s threats were \u201cpart of a strategy that is quite clear by now: to spread fear and create anxiety,\u201d according to Adnkronos news agency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt is not always the work of foreign countries or hostile entities. There are also attention-seekers and lunatics who, at a time like this, cannot wait to unleash terror in a city or a region,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Antonello Giannelli, head of the Italian School Principals Association, said the alerts were upsetting for students, families and school staff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cEven though today\u2019s threats are clearly hoaxes, we cannot underestimate the consequences of incidents that alarm entire school communities and disrupt the normal conduct of educational activities,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Rome, Italy(National Times)- More than 300 schools in Italy were evacuated on Wednesday after hoax bomb alerts in several European nations, the latest in a series of threats and cyberattacks on supermarkets, blood banks, air traffic and TV broadcasters. Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland said many of their schools also received a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":136258,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-136257","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest_news","entry"],"yoast_head":"\n