Rome, Nov 11 (IANS): Hundreds of schools were evacuated across Italy on Wednesday after being targeted by bomb threats, local media reported.

The threat was triggered by an email sent to school administrations across the country, including Rome, Milan, Florence and other major cities, according to state-run Rai News 24.

At least 300 schools across Italy were affected by the bomb threats, and the number could rise, Italian TV channel La7 reported, citing Education Minister Giuseppe Valditara.

Police and Carabinieri military police were running security checks along with explosive expert teams. No evidence had been found to substantiate the threats so far, but students and teachers were sent home as a precaution.

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has reportedly called an urgent cabinet meeting at 4 pm local time (1500 GMT) to assess the situation, Xinhua news agency reported. The threatening email was sent to at least 12 schools in the province of Rome, including primary schools and nurseries, as well as 12 schools in Milan and the surrounding Lombardy region and another 12 in Naples and the Campania region, La Repubblica reported.

Other targeted schools were in Turin, Sanremo and Vicenza in northern Italy, and in Bari, Cagliari, and Palermo in the south.

The email threat began as follows: "This is Mikhail Andropov, leader of the Vilayat Misoginistan. We have come to annihilate you. We are going to carry out a genocide against Italians," according to La Repubblica, which published a copy provided by staff at one school.

The email also claimed that a "powerful explosive device" had been planted in each targeted school, and a bomb had been "placed in the car of your (Education) Minister."

According to Italian news outlet ANSA, police are investigating the message's origin and credibility. There is little public information about the purported group calling itself "Vilayat Misoginistan."

"I suppose this is a myth maniac, but it is triggering alarm … it has indeed sparked an absurd panic," head of Lazio region's school masters association, Cristina Costarelli, told newspaper Il Corriere della Sera.

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This report was published from a syndicated wire feed. Apart from the headline, the EdexLive Desk has not edited the copy.