Hoax bomb alerts sent to schools in Italy, UK and Ireland in latest disruption

By Alvise Armellini and Giuseppe Fonte

ROME, Nov 11 (Reuters) - Schools across Italy were evacuated on Wednesday after around 6,300 of them received bomb warnings, the latest in a series of threats and cyberattacks around Europe againstsupermarkets, blood banks, air traffic and broadcasters.

Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland said many of their schools received a similar email threat from abroad but it was classed as a hoax and did not disrupt classes.

In Italy, schools closed swiftly after the warnings, prompting many parents to drop what they were doing to collect children.

"My daughter Dafne started crying because the kids did not understand what was happening, and she was still shaken when I picked her up," said Nensi Bego, parent of a child at the Mazzini middle school in Rome.

"This is so annoying. It's obvious it's just a hoax that disrupts lessons and disrupts everyone's day."

A copy of the message seen by Reuters also included a threat to target Prime MinisterGiorgia Meloni. She said the bomb alerts posed no danger and that police and other public bodies were monitoring the situation.

"All students have been taken to a safe area and remain under the supervision of teaching staff," one school in Rome informed parents through a messaging app.

The email received in Italy was signed "Mikhail Andropov, leader of the Vilayat of Misoginistan," according to a copy of the message seen by Reuters.

“The (school) emails are public. (Sending the bomb alert messages) was as easy as drinking a glass of water,” a national security source told Reuters.

The same purported author claimed responsibility for email bomb threats sent on Friday to newsrooms in Ireland and Bulgaria.

RUSSIA AND IRAN DENY ACCUSATIONS

Some European officials suspect Russia may be behind a campaign of disruption to everyday life in European nations supporting Ukraine after Moscow's invasion.

Russia denies that and accuses the West of a smear campaign.

Iran is another suspect. France summoned Iran's ambassador on Tuesday after accusing Tehran of a cyberattack that disabled refrigerators in hundreds of supermarkets last week.

Iran rejected those accusations as "baseless and hostile".

Italian Defence Minister Guido Crosetto said Wednesday's threats were part of a clear strategy "to spread fear and create anxiety," according to Adnkronos news agency.

"It is not always the work of foreign countries or hostile entities. There are also attention-seekers and lunatics who, at a time like this, cannot wait to unleash terror in a city or a region," he added.

Antonello Giannelli, head of the Italian School Principals Association, said the alerts were upsetting for students, families and school staff.

"Even though today’s threats are clearly hoaxes, we cannot underestimate the consequences of incidents that alarm entire school communities and disrupt the normal conduct of educational activities," he said.

(Reporting by Alvise Armellini, Giselda Vagnoni and Giuseppe Fonte in Rome, Sarah Young and Michael Holden in London, Writing by Keith Weir, Editing by Gavin Jones and Andrew Cawthorne)