FOREIGN EMBASSIES BASED IN ROME are on alert after two parcel bombs exploded at the Swiss and Chilean embassies there yesterday. The bombs were packed inside plastic VHS cases, the AFP reports.

Two people were injured. One Swiss Embassy employee received serious injuries to both of his hands when the parcel exploded as he opened it.

A second person injured at the Chilean Embassy is in danger of losing the sight in one eye as a result of the explosion.

There were also false alarms at three other embassies, including the Ukrainian Embassy, and two Italian local government buildings in the city yesterday. The New York Times reports that Italian anarchists have claimed responsibility for the attacks.

Security at embassies, ministry buildings, post offices and the Italian parliament are on high alert today, the AFP reports.

La Republicca reports that the group called the Informal Anarchist Federation (FAI) said in a statement: “We decided to make our voice heard again in the words and deeds. Destroy the system of domination. Viva la FAI.”

The AFP says the group also expressed solidarity with anarchist groups in Argentina, Chile, Greece, Mexico and Spain in their statement.

The group first became known after sending a series of letter bombs in 2003 to the then-EU President Romano Prodi, Europol and Eurojust. La Republicca writes that the FAI’s claim over yesterday’s attacks confirms a link between that group and anarchists in Greece who are believed to have conducted a similar parcel bomb campaign in Athens recently.