Was a major Islamic terror attack just stopped in the Italian town of Viterbo?
According to the Associated Press, thousands of people had gathered for the Macchina di Santa Rosa festival, a 700-year-old event that honors a local Catholic saint. The festival involves 100 porters who pull and push a 10,000-pound structure called the "Macchina" through the city's narrow streets.
Here's a clip from the 2018 festival:
Officials haven't said how they knew the Turkish citizens were up to no good, but they arrested two suspects at a local bed and breakfast. In the men's possession were automatic rifles. A third suspect is reportedly still at large.
The theory is that the men had rented the room and set up their machine guns to overlook the procession and the crowds.
According to local sources for Italian outlet Ansa, however, police have not definitively said whether the men were planning a terror attack or were involved in a gun-running operation.
The possibility that the men were involved in an arms-trafficking ring is main line of investigation, sources said, although the hypothesis of a possible terrorist attack has not been excluded so far.
A "Turkish mobster" was arrested in Viterbo several days ago. Ansa says the case "could be related."
Regardless, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni congratulated police on Thursday for the arrests.
Congratulations to the police and Interior Minister (Matteo) Piantedosi for their prompt intervention that led to the arrest of two armed Turkish citizens in Viterbo, just hours before the Macchina di Santa Rosa festival.
The interior minister also posted on social media:
As did Italy's deputy prime minister:
As for the festival, it seems it went peacefully as planned!
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