(supersedes previous)Italy was on
maximum alert Tuesday in the wake of at least two terror attacks
in Brussels, which Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni said have
not involved any Italian nationals.
The so-called Islamic State (ISIS) terror group has claimed
responsibility for the deadly attacks, Russian news agency TASS
cited the ISIS-linked Amaq news agency as saying.
"For now we have no record of Italian citizens involved in
the Brussels attacks," Gentiloni said.
He added he has spoken to his Belgian counterpart, who "is
working with the embassies. It will be a few hours before the
situation becomes clear".
He added that "our diplomatic infrastructure has been
activated to provide maximum assistance to our fellow
nationals".
The foreign ministry urged Italians in Brussels to "avoid
going anywhere at the moment" and said its crisis unit is
"active".
Italian Ambassador to Brussels Vincenzo Grassi said "so far
no hospital we have contacted has communicated the presence of
Italians but this is not definitive".
He said the Belgian cellphone network was "very bad, many
hospitals are submerged with calls and we too are finding it
hard to respond to all the questions arriving at the embassy".
He said the situation was "still very confused".
Belgian authorities earlier confirmed 26 people died and
130 were wounded in blasts at the capital's Zavantem national
airport and at the Maalbeek Metro Station in central Brussels
near European Union headquarters.
An unexploded device and a Kalashnikov rifle were found at
the airport, where government officials earlier confirmed 11
were killed and 81 were wounded.
All transportation in Brussels has been shut down as the
army took to the streets.
The Italian interior ministry raised the security level at
Italy's airports and Interior Minister Angelino Alfano has
summoned the national public safety committee to assess "further
measures to combat and prevent the terrorist threat".
Premier Matteo Renzi will preside over that meeting to be
held at 15:00, and will make a statement on the attacks at the
premier's office in Palazzo Chigi at 16:00.
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