Parcel bombings target Rome embassies

Package bombs have exploded at two embassies in Rome today: The first explosion, a package bomb at the Swiss Embassy, seriously wounded the person who opened it, police said. A second bomb exploded at the Chilean Embassy shortly afterwards, wounding one person, who was taken to a hospital, according to police. And a "suspicious package" ...

By , a former associate editor at Foreign Policy.

Package bombs have exploded at two embassies in Rome today:

Package bombs have exploded at two embassies in Rome today:

The first explosion, a package bomb at the Swiss Embassy, seriously wounded the person who opened it, police said.

A second bomb exploded at the Chilean Embassy shortly afterwards, wounding one person, who was taken to a hospital, according to police.

And a "suspicious package" was found at the Ukrainian Embassy in the Italian capital, police said, but it turned out not to be dangerous.

Police began their sweeps of all embassies and consulates after the blasts, they said. Many countries have two diplomatic missions in the city — one to the Italian state and a separate one to the Vatican.

It’s obviously still early in this story, but these bombings do seem similar to the explosive packages sent to a number of embassies in Athens in November. Two suspects have been arrested in connection with those bombings, who are believed to be associated with an anarchist group called the Conspiracy of the Fire Nuclei. 

Italy, like Greece, certainly has a history of violent leftist revolutionary movements, but they’ve been pretty quiet in recent years. 

Joshua Keating was an associate editor at Foreign Policy. Twitter: @joshuakeating

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