A Libyan man threw a bomb at an Italian army barracks in Milan early on Monday and was injured in the explosion, losing one of his hands, police said.

An Italian soldier was slightly hurt in the attack at the Santa Barbara barracks near San Siro soccer stadium. Police said the man, carrying a small bomb in his bag, got into the barrack compound and threw the bomb while shouting in Arabic.

But an army guard managed to stop the 35-year-old getting closer to the building, helping to avoid more damage or casualties, police said. His motives remained unclear.

The head of parliament's security committee, Francesco Rutelli, said it seemed to be an 'isolated incident' but added: 'Earlier investigations turned up a conversation that talked about these barracks as a possible target.'    

Political violence in Italy in recent years has consisted mostly of small-scale incidents linked to remnants of the leftist Red Brigade guerrillas active in the 1970s and '80s.
   

Intelligence reports and terrorism arrests show militant Islamic groups linked to Al Qaeda, especially in North Africa, are active in Italy, mostly recruiting and financing for attacks planned elsewhere in Europe.

Italian troops are currently stationed in Afghanistan and Lebanon, but Italy pulled out of Iraq in 2006.

Milan's Muslim community was among those expressing sympathy with the military personnel in the barracks, while saying there was no reason to believe there was any link to a Muslim group.

'We condemn any type of violence, whoever carries it out,' the head of Milan's Jenner Street mosque, Abdel Hamid Shaari, told Ansa news agency. 'But this could easily be some madman from any organisation, as so often happens.' - Reuters