Police bomb-disposal experts have confirmed that an unsuccessful attempt was made to damage an underground fuel pipeline serving NATO bases in northern Italy.
The section of the pipeline which was subject to the attack is located near Dal Molin airport here, which in the future will be expanded to house US military forces.
An inspection of the pipeline was ordered after a local TV station broadcast footage from a DVD showing the attack being carried out.
The amateur video was apparently shot during the night of July 4th, the American Independence Day holiday, by a group calling itself the 'Anti-Imperialist Team'.
Its images included the group's name, a Google map of Dal Molin airport, footage of the area near Dal Molin airport and close-ups of a hatch which gives access to the pipeline, complete with its identifying security codes.
It was thanks to these that police were able to locate the section of the pipeline in question.
Although there was no real damage to the pipeline, in the hatch police found three pressure cookers packed with several camping gas canisters and the remains of two burned gas cans.
The bomb experts believe that the burning gas cans were supposed of have detonated the pressure cookers.
Investigators believe the choice of the Dal Molin base was linked to the Italian government's decision to allow the the US to expand its facilities at Dal Molin in order to host its 173rd Airborne Combat Team, which is currently split between Italy and Germany.
The pipeline originates in the northwest coastal city of La Spezia and runs to the Italian northeast to supply kerosene to military air bases in Ghedi, Villafranca, Istrana and Aviano.
Vicenza hosts the headquarters of Southern European Task Force (SETF) as well as the 173rd Airborne Combat Team.
The SETF has been in Italy since the early 1950s and includes a rapid reaction force which has seen action in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The 173rd Airborne Combat Team was set up in Vicenza in June 2000 and since then has grown from one to six battalions.
Two battalions are currently housed at the Italian military's Caserma Ederle base in Vicenza. Three other battalions are in Bamberg, Germany, and one is in Schweinfurt, Germany.
