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The Current

ISIS terror threats, sets its sights on Rome

ISIS is inching closer to Europe, and Italy in particular, now that they've established a hold on the north shore of Libya. So does Italy really need to sound the alarm? Or is it just feeding into just what the militants want, by discussing their fancied territorial expansion?
CBC Radio ·
Italian policemen patrol in front of Saint Peter's Square in Rome. Media reports that American intelligence services have warned the Vatican that it could be the next target by Islamist militants have prompted alarm in Rome. (REUTERS/Max Rossi )

When the militant group ISIS released its latest video last weekend, the mass beheading of 21 Egyptians on a Libyan beach made headlines around the world.

But the video also contained a warning that ISIS is not far from Italy's capital city - and vowed that they were coming to take Rome. It's not the first time ISIS has threatened Italy.

Last fall the group threatened the life of Pope Francis, and raised the spectre of raising a black ISIS flag over the Vatican. The latest warning has Italy on high alert with the country's Interior minister calling on NATO to intervene — quote — "for the future of the Western World."

Loretta Napoleon is an economist and political analyst Joining and author of "The Islamist Phoenix."

Claudia Gazzini has been watching the ISIS threat from inside Libya. She is the Tripoli-based senior analyst on Libya for the International Crisis Group. 


This segment was produced by The Current's Sonya Buyting and Howard Goldenthal. 


Related Links

Italy Fears ISIS Invasion From Libya - The Daily Beast

Libya Faces ISIS Crisis: Italy Wants NATO Intervention - NBC News

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