Italy thwarts terrorist plot to attack Vatican City.

Italian police announced on April 24 that they had dismantled an Islamist network linked to Osama bin Laden, the leader of the al-Qaeda terrorist network killed by the US, as well as being involved in attacks in Pakistan and Afghanistan and suspected of plotting to bomb the Vatican.

In total, 18 suspects, all Pakistani and Afghan nationals, were issued arrest warrants following a six-year investigation stemming from an inquiry into an illegal immigration ring from the island of Sardinia.

Police cars patrol St. Peter's Square in the Vatican. (Source: AP)

However, only nine suspects were arrested in the raids conducted across Italy on the morning of April 24.

Police said that based on the content of intercepted phone calls, the suspects had carried out numerous bloody terrorist attacks in Pakistan, including the October 2009 bombing at a market in Peshawar that killed more than 100 people, and even plotted to overthrow the Pakistani government.

Among the suspects were two individuals believed to be Bin Laden's bodyguards.

According to the police, this network organized the migration of Pakistanis and Afghans to Europe via Italy, posing as victims of ethnic or religious persecution to obtain refugee status in Europe. The money earned from this operation was transferred to extremist groups in Pakistan, including branches of Al-Qaeda and the Taliban.

Speaking to reporters, Sardinian prosecutor Mauro Mura said members of the network had contacted two suspected suicide bombers who traveled to Italy in 2010 to discuss a "major jihad" attack, possibly targeting the Vatican. However, the two men left Italy after discovering they were being monitored.

According to VNA