A group of far-right extremists planned to blow up a mosque near Siena before changing their minds for fear of being caught, police said after placing 12 people under investigation in and around Siena on Tuesday.
The group planned to blow up the mosque at Colle Val d'Elsa near Siena by blowing up a gas pipe, police said.
One of the group is heard on a wiretap saying "he had brought the maps, we wanted him to blow up the gas thingy so that the whole lot would have been blown up", police said.
They allegedly dropped the plan fearing that the police would catch them.
Police in Florence and Siena on Tuesday placed 12 people under investigation in a probe into potentially subversive far-right extremist militants.
The suspects are being probed for possession of weapons with the aim of setting up an association with subversive ends, police said.
DIGOS security police are carrying out raids of homes and offices in the province of Siena, police said.
The suspects allegedly hailed racial hatred and fascism, police said.
Police said the suspects were "of a certain age" and did not have criminal records.
A lot of material was seized including weapons for which the suspects had licenses, police said.
Explosives were found at one of the raided premises, police said, and a bomb squad was called in.
Police said the raids and searches were carried out at Sovicille, Poggibonsi, and the centre of Siena.
"At the moment we have not found evidence of links to existing extreme right political groups," police said.
"The searches are the first act in a probe that has to be developed," said Florence anti-mafia unit chief prosecutor Giuseppe Creazzo.
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