Italy deploys 500 troops to Milan following mass unrest and over 270 detentions

AKIPRESS.COM –

Italian police detained 271 people during unrest in Milan on October 18, with 32 arrested, including 23 minors.

Following two days of rioting, the Italian government will deploy 500 military personnel to Milan, Reuters reported.

“From words to deeds: 500 more soldiers to defend Milan,” Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini wrote on social media.

The troop deployment is expected to be included in a security package that the Cabinet will approve on Tuesday.

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and the government are also considering stricter measures regarding juvenile crime, including expanding the practice of preventive detention.

Riots in Milan and other northern Italian cities, such as Bologna, Brescia, Bergamo, and Turin, erupted over the weekend following protests against rising prices and deteriorating public services. Protesters clashed with police, looted shops, and set fire to trash bins.

The demonstrations in Italy formed part of a broader wave of protests across Europe, including demonstrations in Spain over surging rent costs, in Albania over corruption and falling living standards, and in France, where student protests over school conditions escalated over the weekend into the largest riots in decades