Incident Summary:
02/08/2003: At 11:30 PM local time, a bomb went off the church in Villanova di Camposampiero in Padua Province, northern Italy. The blast was powerful, suggesting a high-powered explosive was used in the attack. This incident was seen as linked to another church bomb blast at Reschigliano di Campodarsego church at 11:15PM on 02/08/2003. Italian newspaper La Stampa reported that on the morning of 02/08/2003, Venice newspaper Gazzettino received a call that warned, albeit cryptically, of the impending incidents. Moreover, a note was left at Padua city's cathedral on the morning of 02/09/2003 that rambled about bombs and churches. It was not clear if the note was written on part of the perpetrators or a hoax. Though Moroccan Islamists were suspected of perpetrating the incident early on, the Verona Public Prosecutor soon ruled out Islamist involvement, and was inclined to rule out leftist radicals as well. Local racists were most recently suspected of the blast, yet local residents believed Islamists were behind the blast.
Overview
GTD ID:
200302080004
When:
2003-02-08
Country:
Italy
Region:
Western Europe
Province/administrative
region/u.s. state:
Veneto
City:
Villanova di Camposampiero
What
Attack Information
Type of Attack () |
Bombing/Explosion |
Successful Attack? () |
Yes |
Target Information ()
Target Type: Religious Figures/Institutions |
Name of Entity |
Italian Catholic Church |
Specific Description |
Catholic Church at Villanova di Camposampiero, Padua Province, Italy |
Nationality of Target |
Italy |
Additional Information
Hostages |
No |
Ransom |
No |
Property Damage |
Yes |
Extent of Property Damage |
Major (likely > $1 million but < $1 billion) |
Value of Property Damage |
Unknown |
How
Weapon Information
Type |
Sub-type |
Explosives |
Unknown Explosive Type |
Additional Information
Suicide Attack? | No |
Part of Multiple Incident? | Yes |
Criterion 1 () |
Yes |
Criterion 2 () |
Yes |
Criterion 3 () |
Yes |
Doubt Terrorism Proper () |
No |
Additional Information |
This incident is linked to another at Reschigliano di Campodarsego, also in Padua Province (200302080003). The blast at Villanova's church went off 15 minutes after the one at Reschigliano. The police, after going through several possible perpetrator groups, made no conclusion on who they suspected to be the perpetrators. |
Who
Perpetrator Group Information
Group Name |
Claimed Responsibility |
Unknown |
No |
Perpetrator Statistics
Number of Perpetrators |
Unknown |
Number of Captured Perpetrators |
0 |
Casualty Information
Total Number of Casualties |
0 Fatalities / 0 Injured |
Total Number of Fatalities |
0 |
Number of U.S. Fatalities |
0 |
Number of Perpetrator Fatalities |
0 |
Total Number of Injured |
0 |
Number of U.S. Injured |
0 |
Number of Perpetrators Injured |
0 |
Sources
Sources
"Two Italian churches bombed," ANSA (Internet Version-WWW), February 9, 2003 |
"Italian judge rules out Islamic lead in church attacks," La Repubblica (Internet Version-WWW), February 9, 2003. |
Fabio Poletti, "Terrorist Trail for Bombs," La Stampa (Internet Version-WWW), February 11, 2003. |
Criteria
Criteria 1
The act must be aimed at attaining a political, economic, religious, or social goal. In terms of economic goals, the exclusive pursuit of profit does not satisfy this criterion. It must involve the pursuit of more profound, systemic economic change.
Criterion 2
There must be evidence of an intention to coerce, intimidate, or convey some other message to a larger audience (or audiences) than the immediate victims. It is the act taken as a totality that is considered, irrespective if every individual involved in carrying out the act was aware of this intention. As long as any of the planners or decision-makers behind the attack intended to coerce, intimidate or publicize, the intentionality criterion is met.
Criterion 3
The action must be outside the context of legitimate warfare activities. That is, the act must be outside the parameters permitted by international humanitarian law (particularly the prohibition against deliberately targeting civilians or non-combatants.
Doubt Terrorism Proper
The existence of a "Yes" for "Doubt Terrorism Proper?" records reservation, in the eyes of GTD analysts, that the incident in question is truly terrorism. Such uncertainty, however, was not deemed to be sufficient to disqualify the incident from inclusion into the GTD. Furthermore, such a determination of doubt is subsequently coded by GTD analysts as conforming to one of four possible alternative designations: 1) Insurgency/Guerilla Action; 2) Internecine Conflict Action; 3) Mass Murder; or 4) Purely Criminal Act.
Alternate Designation
The determination of "yes" for "Doubt Terrorism Proper" by GTD analysts is coded as conforming to one of four possible alternative designations: 1) Insurgency/Guerilla Action; 2) Internecine Conflict Action; 3) Mass Murder; or 4) Purely Criminal Act.
Successful Attack
Success of a terrorist strike is defined according to the tangible effects of the attack. For example, in a typical successful bombing, the bomb detonates and destroys property and/or kills individuals, whereas an unsuccessful bombing is one in which the bomb is discovered and defused or detonates early and kills the perpetrators. Success is not judged in terms of the larger goals of the perpetrators. For example, a bomb that exploded in a building would be counted as a success even if it did not, for example, succeed in bringing the building down or inducing government repression.
Type of Attack
This field captures the general method of attack and often reflects the broad class of tactics used. It consists of the following nine categories:
- Assassination
- Armed Assault
- Unarmed Assault
- Bombing/Explosion
- Hijacking
- Hostage taking (Barricade Incident)
- Hostage taking (Kidnapping)
- Facility / Infrastructure Attack
- Unknown
Target Information
This field captures the general type of target. It consists of the following 22 categories:
- Abortion Related
- Airports & Airlines
- Business
- Government (General)
- Government (Diplomatic)
- Educational Institution
- Food or Water Supply
- Journalists & Media
- Maritime (includes Ports and Maritime facilities)
- Military
- NGO
- Other
- Police
- Private Citizens & Property
- Religious Figures/Institutions
- Telecommunication
- Terrorists
- Tourists
- Transportation (other than aviation)
- Unknown
- Utilities
- Violent Political Parties