Malta’s schools targeted by emailed bomb threat

From the Times of Malta

5am email calling for Islamic caliphate sparks police probe, evacuations.

Bomb threats emailed to schools across the country were likely sent from a foreign IP address en masse to email addresses gleaned from government websites, sources close to the police say.

Schools across the country were struck by bomb threats on Monday morning, in a seemingly coordinated attack.

Sources within government told Times of Malta that every state school in Malta and Gozo received a bomb threat by email on Monday morning, with several private and Church schools also likely to have been targeted. Meanwhile, sources close to the police say that over 90 government schools received the email.

All schools received an identical email and government sources described the incident as a “coordinated attack”.

Authorities initially considered closing all schools for the day, but decided against it on the advice of bomb disposal experts.

Email threat repeats Islamist tropes

The email which sparked the bomb threat fears repeats several Islamist tropes about enemies of Islam and calls for an Islamic Caliphate to be established.

“Explosive devices are located in your building,” the email opened.

“We will not be deterred by the bombs of the crusaders. Nor by the bullets of the apostates. Jama’ah not be swayed by the lies of the media, nor by the treachery of the traitors,”

“We are the ones who will bring justice to the oppressors, and freedom to the oppressed the caliphate is our home, and we will defend it to the death we will not let the enemies of Islam,”

“Take one inch of our land we will not let the Kafirs desecrate our mosques, or our holy sites we will fight to the last breath, to protect our faith, our culture, and our way of life. So let the enemies of Islam tremble with fear, let them know that we are coming for them.”

 that further actions will be taken “until the word of Allah is supreme, and the law of the Quran is applied in Malta.”