Italian Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi has said there is so far no evidence linking the man who drove into pedestrians in Modena on Saturday to organised Islamist extremist activity.
In an interview with Il Giornale, Piantedosi referred to the background of Salim El Koudri, who injured eight people when he drove his car at high speed into passers-by in the northern Italian city.
“He is an Italian citizen who has been diagnosed with a schizoid personality disorder, which creates some difficulty in interpreting the incident,” Piantedosi said.
The minister said El Koudri had expressed frustration over his professional situation and over the fact that the university where he had obtained a three-year degree in economics had not offered him a job.
According to Piantedosi, five years ago El Koudri sent an email to the university seeking employment, in which he insulted Christians and wrote that he “could burn Jesus”. In a later email, however, he apologised. In 2022, public health services diagnosed him with a serious mental health disorder.
Piantedosi said the investigation had so far found “no evidence connected to organised, extremist Islamist activity” and no elements usually associated with a terrorist preparing violent attacks.
Investigators are nevertheless continuing their inquiries to establish whether there are indications that El Koudri may have acted as a “lone wolf”, meaning someone with no direct contact with terrorist groups who plans and carries out an attack without assistance from others.
Source: amna
