Extra security in Rome during Holy Week.
Police chiefs are meeting on 26 March to discuss security measures in Rome following a terror warning received by Italy's interior ministry in recent days, according to Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera.The anonymous warning – delivered to the Italian embassy in Tunis – referred to a possible terror threat in Italy, particularly in central Rome, by a Tunisian citizen allegedly linked to the Islamist terrorist organisation Daesh.
On 25 March counter-terrorism police ordered a manhunt for a suspected Islamist militant from Tunisia who was believed to be in Rome. However within hours of the news his relatives took to Facebook to insist that the 41-year-old suspect had been found by police at his place of work in Tunis.
On the afternoon of 25 March a bombscare led police to evacuate both of Rome's Rinascente retail stores – on Via dei Due Macelli and in Piazza Fiume – however it proved to be a false alarm.
Security in Rome is being increased as the capital enters Holy Week, with particular attention focused on the Good Friday Via Crucis ceremony at the Colosseum and Easter Sunday Mass at St Peter's. Rome will have around 2,000 security officials on duty each day, according to the Corriere della Sera, with additional security at churches and popular night-life areas.
The alert comes at a time when Rome has an influx of visitors during the Easter period.
Photo La Repubblica