An accused top member of the new Red Brigades – an offshoot of the radical left wing group that terrorised Italy in the 1970s and 1980s – went on trial for murder today.

Italian police arrested a suspected member of the Red Brigades terror group today, two days after finding some 220lbs of explosives in an alleged hideout of the group.

Italian police today arrested six alleged Red Brigades terrorists suspected of killing a Labour Ministry consultant in 1999 – the first attack by the left-wing terrorist group in more than a decade, news reports said.

A parcel bomb exploded at an Italian Labour ministry building in Rome today, causing no injuries, while similar packages rigged to blow up were found in another Rome office and in a Sardinia police station.

A passenger on a train heading to Florence Sunday opened fire on police who had asked to see identity documents, killing one officer and wounding another, state television said.

Italy's three main trade unions are planning a general strike to protest at the murder of a top Italian government adviser.