[Breaking news update at 7:13 a.m. ET]
The Vatican was among the possible targets for an attack planned by a network of Pakistanis associated with al Qaeda, said Cagliari, Italy, Chief Prosecutor Mauro Mura on Friday.
[Original story published at 4:24 a.m. ET]
Italian State Police announced Friday that they had launched a “vast anti-terrorism operation” against an international organization associated with al Qaeda.
Police have carried out raids in seven provinces, including against the alleged headquarters in Sardegna, on the island of Sardinia, in what they described in a statement as a first-of-its-kind operation.
Some of those expected to be arrested are suspected of having been involved in a market massacre in Pakistan in 2009, a police spokesman said. Others are believed to have provided logistical support to Osama Bin Laden, the al Qaeda leader who was killed in an American operation in Pakistan in 2011, the spokesman said.
Still others are suspected of involvement in migrant trafficking, said the spokesman, Paolo Meloni, who represents the police in Sassari, Sardinia, where the investigation is being coordinated.
18 people, most from Pakistan, expected to be arrested
The operation, which is still going on, is expected to result in the arrest of 18 people, most of them from Pakistan, Meloni said.
He said the provinces in which the raids are being carried out include Frosinone and Macerata, which are in central Italy, as well as Bergamo, which is in the north.
Authorities said they plan to hold a press conference later Friday.