Italy’s Foreign Minister, Paolo Gentiloni, has said Italy may consider helping Nigeria and other African countries currently battling the threat of insurgency and terrorism.
Speaking in Rome on Wednesday, April 8, 2015, Gentiloni said military action against terrorism was inevitable, adding that more needed to be done to tackle religious persecution, especially as Italy is home to the Vatican and is in close proximity to several African countries currently being threatened by terrorists groups.
He said: “The fact that these groups are targeting Christians brings the need to help even closer to home, because it concerns our identity and our roots.
“Islamic State’s incursion into North Africa has alarmed Italy, whose southernmost island is separated from Tunisia by a 70-mile stretch of the Mediterranean”
Gentiloni further revealed that the violence in Libya has made the number of illegal migrants in Italy, crossing over via boat to increase astronomically.
He also availed that Italian forces would aid in training armed forces in Somalia, fighting al-Qaeda linked Al-Shabaab militants who killed 148 people, mostly Christians in Kenya last week.
