Rome – Italian police on Thursday arrested four people suspected of conspiring to carry out attacks on behalf of Islamic State in Italy.
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The Israeli embassy in Rome and the Vatican were among the alleged targets, Newsweek cited Milan prosecutor Maurizio Romanelli as saying.
“I want to hit Israel in Rome,” one suspect named as Abderrahim Moutahrrick was said to have told another suspect in an intercepted conversation, according to the report.
Investigators believe one of the suspects asked another to plan an attack in Italy and mentioned Rome.
As part of the same investigation, police also issued arrest warrants for two fugitives – a Moroccan man and his Italian wife who left Italy and headed towards Iraq and Syria last year.
The four arrested Thursday include a man and wife living near Lake Como — a 23-year-old Moroccan man, and a female relative of the fugitive couple.
Italy has been spared deadly attacks by Islamist militant groups such those seen in France and Belgium. Authorities are nevertheless on high alert, carrying out regular arrests of people suspected to have ties to Islamic State.