The risk of Islamic terrorist acts remains high in Italy due especially to the danger of lone wolf attacks by Islamist extremists inspired by the Islamic State jihadist group if not directly linked to it, a senior security official said on Tuesday.
"It's clear that the alert level must remain high because the risk of Islamic terrorism is its fragmented nature and the possibility that the attackers may not be affiliated to true organisations," said Enzio Letizia, secretary of Italy's national association of police investigators.
"This makes investigators' work very difficult," he stressed.
"But we can be proud of our prevention work - an accomplishment recognised by the rest of Europe," Letizia stated.
His comments came after an Italian anti-terror judge on Tuesday issued a new arrest warrant for 29-year-old Nabil Benhamir, a Moroccan extremist who investigators say wanted to "self immolate" in a terrorist attack for IS in Italy.
Benhamir was arrested in August on domestic abuse charges against his pregnant Brazilian girlfriend and is currently in jail.
He is suspected of being a "major figure" in ISIS who returned to Europe "with the aim of training other members of IS to produce and use explosives", according to prosecutors.
The investigation was carried out with the cooperation of Europol, the FBI and the Dutch police. It found evidence of Benhamir's alleged affiliation to IS on the Telegramm and Whatsapp messaging applications, as well as from Facebook and wiretapped conversations.
Benhamir arrived in the northwest Italian port city of Genoa in April from Belgium after previously living in the Netherlands and Germany and travelling several times to IS-controlled areas of Iraq and Syria.
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