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Italian policeman injured in far-right bookshop blast

A police explosives expert was seriously injured on Sunday when a device placed outside a far-right bookshop in the central Italian city of Florence blew up, police said.

Published: 1 January 2017 12:42 CET

Italian policeman injured in far-right bookshop blast

Members of the far-right group Casa Pound hold a protest on December 16. Photo: Filippo Monteverdi/AFP

The officer suffered serious injuries to a hand and an eye, city police chief Alberto Initmi told RaiNews24 television.

Police called in an explosives team after a patrol spotted a suspicious package outside the bookshop, which has ties to a far-right group called Casa Pound.

As the experts approached the package, the blast occurred, said investigators cited by the Italian news agency AGI. The device had been fitted with a timer, they added.

Casa Pound first emerged in Rome in 2003. The movement now has several hundred members, who stage protests against the European Union (EU) and immigration.