Neo-Nazis in explosion of xenophobia against Bengali shopkeepers in Rome Home

London, May 26 : Balaclava-clad gangs, some wearing bandanas emblazoned with swastikas, smashed shop windows with iron bars and baseball bats and beat up Bengali shopkeepers in the eastern Roman suburb of Pigneto on Saturday.

Members of the gangs shouted "Get out, bastard foreigners" as they attacked Bengali shopkeepers in the explosion of xenophobic violence, reports The Times.

Gianni Alemanno, the capital's new right-wing Mayor, and local residents condemned the attacks.

Opponents blamed the new centre-right Government for allowing what they described as a climate of xeno-phobia to flourish across the country.

The new Government of Silvio Berlusconi last week announced a crackdown on illegal immigration and street crime at a Cabinet meeting held in Naples.

At last week's Cabinet meeting, Berlusconi said he would use the army to resolve the Naples rubbish crisis and threatened that anyone obstructing the construction of rubbish dumps would be arrested and imprisoned.

ANI