It is now late evening outside. For almost an hour and a half, that’s how long the video call with him lasts, the central director of the Prevention Police, then practice the head of Italian counter-terrorism, Lucio Pifferianswers our questions from his office. He interrupts himself several times: “There’s an urgent phone call I’ve been waiting for.” These are feverish days, marked by images of bombs raining down on the Middle East, including on Italian bases. On our territory, however, there are approximately 29 thousand sensitive targets, i.e. considered to be at greater risk of terrorist attack: institutional and diplomatic offices, military sites, places of worship, squares, stations and airports. This is a much higher number than in other European countries.
Yet, if we consider the severity and victims of attacks in recent years, the Italian situation is not comparable to that of France, Germany or Spain. The reason for this discrepancy must be sought in the darkest pages of our history. The tragedies of the Years of Lead and the fight against the mafias, which have no comparison with the rest of Europe, have provided us with armor against today’s terrorists, in terms of laws and operational structures.
Like the Casa, the anti-terrorism strategic analysis committee that Pifferi chairs, where information on possible terrorist activities from all the law enforcement agencies operating in the area (Police, Carabinieri, Guardia di Finanza), the secret services and the penitentiary system converge. «There is a continuous exchange of information which allows us on the one hand to concentrate surveillance activity on the most at-risk targets, and on the other to intervene more quickly than our European colleagues, for example through searches, to stop radicalized individuals who could take action. It is no coincidence that we call ourselves the Prevention Police: if something happens, it is a failure for us.”
What is the alert level for possible attacks on our territory?
«Very high, even if we have no specific signals. The places most at risk? In recent weeks, in Europe we have had attacks on the American embassy in Oslo and in front of schools and synagogues in Liège, Rotterdam and Amsterdam. We have therefore increased our vigilance on similar places in our area. Obviously, we do the same with Christian places of worship.”
Are organized groups or lone wolves of more concern?
«There are two dangers that coexist. We have gone from a phase in which terrorist organisations, such as Al Qaeda and ISIS, attacked militarily organized cells through them, to another in which these groups have refined their propaganda techniques, directing it towards non-affiliated subjects but who, by virtue of their psychological weakness, can be quickly radicalized and induced to strike”.
What kind of subjects?
«The most worrying phenomenon is the growing involvement of minors. Since 2023 we have arrested 22 minors for terrorist activities and carried out 145 search warrants. They are 14-15 year olds, but sometimes even twelve year olds, not only of foreign origin, but also of Italian families. They find an escape from their relationship problems in violent preaching, carried out through increasingly sophisticated traps launched on the Web. Cartoon or video game characters act as bait to spread gruesome photos and videos, from mass beheadings by ISIS to images from the extermination camps, accompanied by propaganda messages. The result is that, often, in the mind of the same boy we find elements of Islamic fundamentalism and others attributable to white supremacism. Jihadism and neo-Nazism: two opposing worlds, which use the same recruitment strategies. And they have a very strong element in common: anti-Semitism.”
Aside from age, what is the level of danger of these “sleeping” cells?
«On several occasions, investigative activities were carried out which prevented the development of a terrorist plan. In 2023 in Genoa we arrested 14 people, some of whom were linked to the terrorists who carried out the attack on the Charlie Hebdo office in Paris, while last December, again in Genoa, we dismantled a network which, through charitable organisations, raised funds to finance the armed struggle of Hamas. On other occasions, we have also seized weapons. So there are cells that can really become operational in our territory. Or leave to strike elsewhere. Throughout Europe, including Italy, we have blocked people ready to join organizations that would like to establish a fundamentalist Islamic state in Africa, in the Sahel area.”
What role does Iran play in all this?
«In Europe it carries out terrorist operations, also documented recently, through so-called proxies, subjects who are not formally attributable to the Iranian state but who are hired among common criminal groups for this purpose. The sworn enemies are obviously the Israelis and the Americans, but we do not exclude the possibility that we too could become the target of some action.”
Another hot front concerns the antagonistic galaxy, which has caused a lot of talk with the latest clashes in Milan in the pro-Palestine demonstrations, in Turin after the eviction of the Askatasuna social center and with attacks on the railway lines. What is the alert level here?
«It is a completely different context, but potentially no less dangerous, not only for the use of explosives. Over the last year, we have recorded an increase in numerical participation in violent actions: these groups, by exploiting absolutely acceptable issues such as the Palestinian issue, can convince young people to transform their legitimate protest into violence.”
Citizens from other European countries also participated in these actions. Can Italy become the center of violent antagonism?
«I wouldn’t say so. Italian citizens were also identified by local police at demonstrations in France and other Central European countries where riots occurred. There is a certain mobility of these groups.”
You have been in the police for many years, you directed the Digos in Padua and Florence. How are you experiencing this moment?
«We need to study, understand if there is a need for new regulatory instruments, not neglect anything, because the situation is constantly evolving. So every day I try to weaken the anxiety that easily arises with the awareness of having done everything that could and should have been done.”
