Hundreds of schools across Europe were evacuated after receiving bomb threats on Wednesday, in what appears to be the latest move to intimidate residents, police officials said.
Italy’s Education Minister Giuseppe Valditara told Italian television that the email threat was presumed to be a hoax and that the number of affected schools was expected to increase.
The threatening letter, which more than 300 schools received just before 10 a.m. local time, was signed “Mikhail Andropov, Vilayat leader of Mysoginistan,” according to a copy of the message obtained by Reuters. The same purported sender also claimed responsibility for emailing bomb threats to news outlets in Ireland and Bulgaria on Friday, according to Reuters.
Schools in Scotland and Northern Ireland received similar threats and were evacuated on Wednesday morning.
Northern Ireland Police said the threats were treated as hoaxes, and Police Scotland similarly said there was nothing to suggest the threats posed a credible risk to the public.
This comes amid growing concerns in Europe about so-called hybrid threats and the continent’s ability to withstand such threats.
A series of events last week disrupted supermarkets, blood banks and passenger flights.
Bomb threats, described by authorities and airlines as “hoax bomb attacks” or “false attacks”, have repeatedly affected flights across Europe.
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