MILAN, June 16 (Reuters) - Italian police have arrested seven people accused of belonging to an anarchist militant network and carrying out sabotage on a high-speed railway line during the Winter Olympics in February.
In a statement on Tuesday, police said a judge had ordered five suspects to be held in prison and two placed under house arrest. The charges include terrorist association and subversion of the democratic order.
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni welcomed the police operation, saying on X that it had "dealt a heavy blow to those who believe they can threaten the nation's security, target strategic infrastructure and call into question the principles of democratic coexistence."
Police said two of those arrested were accused of taking part in a February 14 attack on the Rome-Florence high-speed rail line.
According to investigators, the sabotage was carried out using improvised explosive devices, causing severe damage to infrastructure estimated at €455,000 ($528,000).
The attack led to train delays of more than an hour during the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics, which ran from February 6 to 22.
"The sabotage, along with another attack carried out at the same time on the Rome-Naples line, was claimed on the website ispiraazione.noblogs.org, created specifically a few months earlier," police said.
Police added that the anarchist group's statement explicitly referred to the timing of the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics, as well as to anti-militarist aims and violent attacks on infrastructure.
According to police, the group was based in Rome but maintained links with other cells in the cities of Bologna, Milan and Naples.
Rome prosecutors also issued a number of search warrants against other suspects under investigation in several Italian cities.
A 40-page statement posted on the website cited by police also claimed responsibility for a sabotage attack on the Transalpine Pipeline in March. ($1 = 0.8621 euros)
(Reporting by Emilio Parodi, editing by Keith Weir and Crispian Balmer)
