A gunman hiding in his family’s home in a small town in northern Italy sprayed gunfire on passing cars and police, killing at least three people, including an officer, the Carabinieri paramilitary police said.

Italian police arrested 48 people in pre-dawn raids today as part of efforts to crack down on a crime syndicate in the Naples area, crippling two rival clans, police said.

A shaken Italian nation focused on mourning today after 18 Italians were killed and another was left brain dead in Iraq, Italy’s single worst military loss since the Second World War. But a political storm brewed over the country’s policy in the occupied country.