Italian gov't raises alert level, tightens checks on territory and borders: interior minister

Following the deadly terror attacks in Paris, the Italian government has raised alert level to two, meaning that special military forces are ready to immediately intervene at need, Interior Minister Angelino Alfano said here on Saturday.

"No country is at zero risk, and from today we consider the menace as further increased," Alfano told a press conference following a special meeting chaired by Prime Minister Matteo Renzi and attended by Italian police and intelligence services chiefs.

So far a total of 128 people have been reported to be killed and 250 injured, of whom 99 are in serious conditions, during the shootings and explosions in Paris and its suburbs on Friday night.

Alfano said the Italian government has taken two main decisions: reinforcing security measures throughout the country and tightening controls at borders.

Controls were especially tightened at the border with France, he explained, but also at all road, railway, port and airport networks in the country.

Special attention was being dedicated to the major cities of Rome, Milan and Turin. An additional 700 troops were made immediately available for security work in the Italian capital, Alfano added.

Identification procedures were being accelerated as regards illegal immigration into Italy, as infiltration cannot be ruled out, Alfano also said adding that the objective was to register 100 percent of the illegal migrants entering Italy.

"Last night I was constantly in contact with security authorities ... the counterterrorism and intelligence forces committees are permanently joint" for the continuous monitoring of the territory, the interior minister went on saying.

He disclosed some figures about the successful intelligence effort carried out by Italy so far, underlining, however, that such an effort "is not finalized to eliminate the risk of attack, but to lower the risk of attack".

"Since the beginning of this year, Italian security forces have searched 540 suspects and 8,493 vehicles, arrested 147 people and expelled 55 islamic extremists," Alfano said.

He highlighted that Italy protects religious freedom and welcomes all Muslims who are willing to peacefully profess their faith. "But we are extremely strict with those who are not doing so. I have personally signed the expulsion decree for those Imams who exalted violence," he said.

In this regard, Alfano concluded, tougher controls with the help of Arabic-speaker operators will be also carried out in Italian prisons to avoid that those arrested proselytize to encourage terror attacks. Endit