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Rome Blast Kills Two With Anarchist Ties as Anti‑Terror Probe Intensifies

Authorities label the episode a serious escalation, prompting an emergency security meeting at the Interior Ministry.

Overview

  • Forensic teams reported traces consistent with an ammonium‑nitrate explosive and evidence the abandoned site was being used to assemble a device.
  • The victims were identified as Alessandro Mercogliano, 53, and Sara Ardizzone, 35, known in anarchist circles; autopsies and further analyses were ordered by the Rome prosecutor’s anti‑terrorism pool led by Giovanni Conzo.
  • The explosion occurred Thursday night in an ex–casa cantoniera near Parco degli Acquedotti and was discovered the next morning by a passerby, with firefighters later recovering both bodies.
  • Investigators are reviewing unconfirmed hypotheses on possible targets — from the nearby Polo Tuscolano police hub to rail lines or the Leonardo group — while stressing that no objective has been officially established.
  • Intelligence assessments have flagged anarco‑insurrectionalist activity as the most concrete domestic subversive threat, guiding heightened security ahead of upcoming large‑scale demonstrations.