Mass threats against schools

Wave of threats across Europe – targeting schools in several countries

On Wednesday, emails containing bomb threats were sent to schools in Ireland, Northern Ireland, and Scotland, the *Financial Times* reports. *Metro* notes that the threats led to the evacuation of all schools in Edinburgh for a short period this morning.

However, the *Financial Times* reports that British police are treating the emails as hoaxes.

"It is our assessment that there is no need to evacuate any schools or pause instruction based on the content of the emails," the police stated, according to *Metro*.

Earlier on Wednesday, similar threats were directed at hundreds of schools in Italy, *Gazzetta* reports.

Scenes of terror in Italy: "Too easy to create chaos"

Several Italian schools took the threats received today very seriously, before realizing they had been subjected to a "hybrid attack," *La Repubblica* reports.

In Bergamo, a caretaker rushed in and shouted for students to evacuate immediately, following an anonymous message sent to the school claiming that a bomb was set to explode. Similar scenes unfolded in various other locations.

The panic subsided only once the full scale of the situation became clear. The Ministry of Education and the Ministry of the Interior are monitoring developments.

"It is too easy to cause chaos with such alerts," Defense Minister Guido Crosetto told the newspaper.

"Anyone can send an email to a school, a preschool, or an airline claiming that there is a bomb." It is a strategy that even idiots could use. 

Same source behind school threats as in previous incidents

The threats against thousands of schools in Italy were all signed with the Russian-sounding name Mikhail Andropov, according to the Italian newspaper *Repubblica*.

The same signature was used in threats directed at media companies in countries including Ireland and Bulgaria, as well as against aircraft across Europe a few days ago, reports TT.

The threatening emails were sent via a Taiwanese university domain. That is where the trail ends.

"If one suspects that a state actor—such as Russia or China—is behind the threats, one must ask: what would they stand to gain?" says security expert Jörgen Holmlund to *SvD*, noting that they actually have more to lose.

He believes it is more likely the work of attention-seeking individuals—a theory also supported by Italian politicians.