Do you know why terrorists do not attack Italy?

The photo was distributed last August to “Telegram”, ISIS' favorite app. It was an open invitation for the lonely “wolves to kill the Italians. “Site Intelligence Group”, the web site that monitors jihadists' communications, put the picture in place shortly after the video of the ISIS guerrillas in the Philippines, which appeared attacking a Catholic church and tearing up French Pope's photos.

“His threat of 10,000 miles of distance may seem far from reality. But the jihadists ' desire to attack the house of Western Christianity is more than real. It is therefore impressive that Italy has never been the target of attacks such as those that took place in Britain, France, Germany, and Spain. And it's not about the high number of migrants in each country, because only in the first half of 2017 Italy has hosted 82% of all migrants who have landed in Europe.

Some explain that the Italian mafia has not allowed jihadists to be organized. But this idea does not support Arturo Warveli, a member of the Institute for International Policy Studies, an expert group in Milan. He says the Italian mafia has control in the south, and Muslim immigrants live in northern Italy.

A senior Italian police official says the mafia has really influenced, but not as people think. The war that Italian police have fought mob groups over the decades has given them a good experience in organised crime. And Italian police have not only had to deal with the mafia, but also with political extremists (left and right) who were active in Italy between 1970 and 1980, and who planned terror attacks. Organised crime and terrorism over the years have made Italian judges faster when asked to spy on suspects. The history of recent years in Italy also shows that the country is tougher against those who try to vindicate terrorism.

On September 24th, when a Boeing 737 was launched from Bologna Airport to Tirana, Albania's capital, there was the 2nd-09th person expelled from Italy since 2015 for religious extremism. The 22-year-old Muslim had been arrested by police while trying to persuade people not to enter the church. He had been kept in a cell for a day and was released the next day. Then he was kept in full surveillance by the police until he decided to expel him.

Italian police officers say they have fewer suspects to monitor than their French and British colleagues, because most have been expelled from the country. The number of foreign fighter “” that are initiated by each country to help I The SIS somehow shows where there's more radicalized. A study by the U.S. National Economic Research Office concluded that only 87 foreign fighters had been launched from Italy in 2014-2015 to assist the ISIS. From Britain, 760 and about 2,500 had begun. And all three countries have almost the same population. According to Mr. Varveli, this happens for two reasons: First, few Muslims living in Italy belong to the second generation of immigrants who are more inclined to radicalize. Only 0.3% of Italy's residents are immigrants from countries outside the EU. There are 3% in Britain, in France 3.9%. In addition, Italy does not have “gettto” Islamics, isolated and uncontained immigrant neighborhoods from the Middle East, such as the case in France.

Michele Groppi, who teaches at the United Kingdom Defence Academy, points to a third factor. He says there is evidence suggesting that when Al-Qaeda was the leader force of jihadists, Italy was used as the base of weapons in Europe. This has kept us safe because we needed”, he says. The situation has changed since then. Many jihadists who have recently noticed have actually been associated with Italy. Among them is Jusef Zagba, a Moroccan with Italian citizenship, as well as one of three terrorists who used a truck and knives to kill eight people in London Bridge on June 3rd. Mr. Groppi says that if Libya becomes the next centre for jihadists' rebellions, Italy and the Vatican would be in serious danger.

The Economist