Albanian girl placed in care home in Ragusa over alleged IS contacts and jihadist propaganda

The custody order

On Thursday, 29 October 2026, state police in Ragusa, in Sicily, executed a custody order placing an Albanian girl who lives in the province of Ragusa in a care home. The order was issued by the juvenile court in Catania, although AGI attributes it to the juvenile prosecutor's office there. Il Giornale reports that the measure had already been carried out when the story broke. The girl is a minor under investigation for self-training and for incitement to terrorism, including international terrorism. Il Giornale notes that these charges still have to be weighed by the competent courts.

How the inquiry began

The case started with a signal from AISI, Italy's internal security and intelligence agency, about a user who regularly published jihadist content, mostly on TikTok. Investigators from the Central Directorate of Prevention Police then identified the account holder as the girl. Follow-up work by the Digos unit in Ragusa, which also took place in the school environment, showed that she had narrowed her friendships to classmates who practise Islam. She was kept under constant monitoring until police carried out a search in May.

What the search turned up

In May the girl was searched and her electronic device was seized. According to the reports, technical analysis showed an attraction to Islamic State propaganda and to symbols associated with the far right. Investigators also found videos of summary executions of prisoners, material glorifying Daesh, and manuals on self-training and on making homemade explosives. The device reportedly held images and content that were probably generated with artificial intelligence, along with material on violent radicalism and antisemitism. The girl also had contact with people who presented themselves as Islamic State members and with users who encouraged violent action.

The Trescore Balneario link

Rai and AGI report that the girl had shared videos of a violent attack in March at the Leonardo da Vinci school in Trescore Balneario, in the Bergamo area. In that attack a 13-year-old student struck a female French teacher in the neck with a bladed weapon. Authorities listed these shared videos among the elements that motivated the custody measure. Taken together, the sequence of known dates runs as follows.

What remains unclear

The reports describe the girl only as a minor and do not give her age. AGI names the juvenile prosecutor's office in Catania as the issuing body, while other outlets name the juvenile court. None of the sources say whether she has been formally indicted. The account rests on police findings and press reports of the seized device, and the charges remain allegations.