Italy remembers the victims of the Bologna Massacre 40 years on

Italy on Sunday honoured the victims of Bologna massacre in which 85 people were killed and 200 were injured 40 years ago.

It is the deadliest attack in Italy since the end of World War Two.

On the second of August in 1980, a powerful explosion ripped apart the waiting room of Bologna’s central railway station.

Convictions continue to this day, suggesting it is unclear who was behind the attack.

It took place at a time of political turmoil in Italy and wider Europe. Attacks from the far-right and far-left was common between the 1960s and early eighties.

The period is known in Italy as the Anni di Piombo, the Years of Lead.

Authorities eventually concluded the militant fascist group NAR, Armed Revolutionary Nuclei, led by 21-year-old Francesca Mambro, was behind the attack along with another far-right group, Terza Posizione.

But Mambro maintains she is innocent to this day. Others say the attack was the result of collusion between state officials, far-right terrorists, and other agents enacting what was known as the Strategy of Tension to keep communists out of power.

The remembrance ceremony was attended by the Italy’s President Sergio Mattarella, who re-stated the need for full truth and justice.

Suspects are still being sentenced to this day, suggesting the case isn’t fully closed.

As recently as January 2020, Gilberto Cavallini, a 67-year-old former NAR member, was convicted of providing logistical support for the bombing and sentenced to life in prison.

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