Milan, 12 March (LaPresse) – Last night "we were inside the Italian base, Camp Singara, which was already on high alert due to the ongoing crisis, and at around 8.30 local time, the coalition alarm was activated due to an air threat. Following procedures already well established among all personnel, we all went to the assigned bunkers for safety. Shortly before 1 a.m., there was an air threat: the type of threat, whether it was a drone or a missile, is still being investigated. It hit the Italian base and caused some damage to the base's infrastructure and equipment. The personnel are fine, they were protected inside the bunkers when the explosion occurred, they are all fine'. This was reported to Sky Tg24 by the commander of the Italian National Contingent in Erbil, Iraqi Kurdistan, Colonel Stefano Pizzotti. “We have been in the bunkers since 8.30 p.m. yesterday evening because there is still a threat,” he added, “it has not been possible to assess the damage to the infrastructure on site, therefore to quantify what happened, nor to know the origin of this threat”. Pizzotti then recalled that “the personnel here are mainly involved in training local Kurdish troops, based on a specific request from the Iraqi government”. . ‘Since the incident, I have been in constant contact with both Defence Minister Crosetto and Chief of Defence Staff General Portolano, who has been assisting with all phases of the attack tonight,’ Pizzotti continued. ‘At the moment, the air threat alert is over, but coalition bomb disposal experts are on site checking and securing the area before we can access it.’ ‘The morale of the personnel is high, however, and we wanted to reassure the families of the soldiers who are here with me,’ concluded the Italian commander, ‘we are prepared and trained to deal with these situations.’