Italy on anti-terrorism alert ahead of Christmas, New Year festivities

ROME, Dec. 20 (Xinhua) -- Italy is on high anti-terrorism alert ahead of the Christmas holidays and New Year celebrations, the interior ministry said in a statement Wednesday.

Interior minister Marco Minniti presided over a meeting in Rome of the National Committee for Public Order and Safety, with the national chiefs of police and intelligence and the defense chief of staff.

"The committee...confirmed the need to maintain a high level of alert and vigilance...with regards to high-risk targets," the Interior Ministry statement said.

Minniti has ordered all law enforcement authorities to step up controls in public areas where crowds are likely to gather, such as squares, churches, monuments, and open-air markets.

Authorities are also intensifying checks at airports, ports, rail stations, highways, and collective means of transportation. As well, the committee extended to Dec. 31, 2019 the so-called Safe Streets Operation, in which 7,050 military troops are deployed at embassies, monuments, major stations, and other possible terrorist targets throughout Italy.

In Rome, access to the city's historic Piazza Navona will be restricted and there will be metal detectors at the entrances, ANSA news agency reported. The central square with its Baroque fountains and architecture is usually crowded with tourists and Romans alike, and hosts a Christmas market that lasts into the New Year.

As part of the city's anti-terrorism prevention plan, a drill was held on Monday to "test the reaction capabilities of state police and Carabinieri (military police) anti-terrorism units", the Rome police superintendent's office said in a statement.

Italy, which is home to the Vatican and the Catholic pope and whose national territory is filled with churches and monuments, has been repeatedly threatened by extremists. However, unlike other European countries it has so far not come under attack.

Wednesday's security announcements came the day after the one-year anniversary of the 2016 Christmas market attack in Berlin, in which 12 people including a young Italian woman were killed. Enditem