Bomb Explodes at a Tax Collection Office in Rome

MILAN (The Blaze/AP) -- A letter bomb exploded at Italy's tax collection agency Friday, lightly injuring the director general to whom it was addressed, police say.

A Rome police official, who spoke on customary condition of anonymity, said the letter exploded at midday as the director opened a yellow bubble envelope mailed to his attention at an office on the outskirts of Rome.

He suffered an injury to a hand that appears to be light, the official said.

Earlier Friday another police official - who also spoke on customary condition of anonymity- said the director general suffered injuries to his hands and eyes. The Rome official later said it appears the director's eyes were unharmed.

Police said they were investigating possible links to a Frankfurt package bomb intercepted Wednesday, that had been addressed to Deutsche Bank CEO Josef Ackermann. The bomb was deactivated without incident.

Wednesday's bomb was mailed from an Italian anarchist group calling itself "The Informal Anarchist Federation."

The Rome official said law enforcement had been placed on alert Thursday for the possibility of other attempts, but that there was no immediate evidence linking the two incidents.

The bomb addressed to Ackermann was intercepted after a routine X-ray screening in the mailroom of the bank's Frankfurt headquarters, prosecutors and police from Hesse state said in a joint statement.