ROME-- An anarchist group has claimed responsibility for the kneecapping of a nuclear boss in Genoa last week, and threatened further attacks.

 In a rambling four-page letter to Corriere della Sera, a group claiming to be the ‘Olga Nucleus’ of the Informal Anarchist Federation described the victim, Ansaldo Nucleare chief Roberto Adinolfi, as a “sorcerer of the atom” and called the attack on him a “necessary step.” The letter accused the engineering giant Finmeccanica, of whom Ansaldo is a subsidiary, of complicity in war crimes and environmental destruction, and went on to warn that it is “only a matter of time” before a “European Fukushima.”

 The embattled corporation has been under fire since chairman Pier Francesco Guarguaglini was forced to stand down last year over accusations of corruption. More recently it was again in the spotlight after a passenger jet it co-developed with Russian company Sukhoi crashed on a test flight in Indonesia, killing all 50 people on board.

 The letter arrived at Corriere della Sera’s offices on Friday amid fears of a resurgence of the leftist terror groups responsible for a string of killings and kidnappings in the 1970s and 80s. The initial suspects were the Red Brigades, infamous for the abduction and murder of Prime Minister Aldo Moro in 1978.

 Little is known about the Informal Anarchist Federation, but it is believed to be a loose collection of several insurrectionist groups also operating under the umbrella name ‘International Revolutionary Front’. The Federation, known by its Italian initials FAI, first gained notoriety with a letter-bomb campaign directed at various E.U institutions in 2003. The attack on Adinolfi seems to indicate a change to a more openly violent strategy, a progression which anarchist groups have been predicting since the worsening of the economic crisis.

 The sweeping austerity measures imposed by the Monti administration have led to escalating tensions and political unrest, leading to a growing fear of domestic terrorism. Just a few days after the Genoa shooting, police in Legnano were investigating four Red Brigade flyers which had been posted in the town. There have also been numerous incidents involving tax collection agency Equitalia, culminating in violent clashes between police and protestors in Naples last week.

 Prime Minister Mario Monti, speaking to students in the town of Arezzo on Thursday, conceded that there were “serious signs of tears in social cohesion,” but urged Italians to show tolerance and solidarity towards one another.