Mafia turf war claims six victims on Rome's streets
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.A cold-blooded execution in broad daylight in a busy Rome street – the sixth in just a month – has confirmed fears that the capital is facing a vicious turf war between rival organised crime factions.
The re-emerging spectre of the notorious Magliana gang appears to be at the centre of the violence, after it was revealed that the dead man, 33-year-old Flavio Simmi, had links to the organisation, which was a byword for brutality in its 1980s heyday.
Mr Simmi was shot nine times by an assailant on a motor scooter as he got out of his car on Tuesday morning to examine a burst tyre on his car while driving in Rome's Prati district.
Travelling with Mr Simmi, his wife Paola Petti, who works in the press office of the Prime Minister's official Palazzo Chigi residence, escaped unhurt.
The Magliana gang was behind the kidnapping and murder in 1983 of the daughter of a Vatican official. Her body was thrown into a cement mixer.
She had been abducted, it is believed, on the behest of Turkish extremists, who wanted to use her as a bargaining tool to win release of Mehmet Ali Agca, the Turkish gunman who tried to kill Pope John Paul II in 1981.
It was thought the group had withered away after the jailing and deaths of senior members.
Experts writing in Italian newspapers yesterday suggested the upsurge in violence was due to younger elements in the Magliana gang fighting over the drug trade, or possibly because of conflict between the re-emerging Roman gangsters and members of southern mafia groups such as 'Nrangheta, which have a strong presence in the city.
Rome's mayor, Gianni Alemanno, called for a meeting with interior minister Roberto Maroni, and said that the capital, "could not be allowed become a Wild West theatre of violence".
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments