ROME, Sept. 27 (Xinhuanet) -- Italian Interior Minister Giuseppe Pisanu said on Tuesday that Western countries will be at risk of possible terrorist attacks for the next 15 years at least.

    Pisanu told reporters at a briefing on an anti-terrorist drill in Milan last week, saying the risk of terrorist attacks will continue to loom over Italy and Europe at large.

    The minister confirmed that other drills will be held in Rome, Naples and Turin, stressing that these will take place without notice.

    Once these drills have taken place, officials plan a more "advanced second phase" of exercises aimed at "fine tuning" the response of emergency services in the event of a real terrorist attack.

    Last Friday's "exercises" involved the staging of multiple, simulated attacks in the northern city which left almost 25 people "dead".

    The anti-terrorism drill - the biggest ever held in Italy - included two simultaneous fake train blasts and a simulated attack on an airport bus with hostage-taking.

    More than 2,000 people took part in the exercises, which brought traffic in the city center to a standstill as police, firemen and medical and emergency staff rushed to the scenes of the attacks. Enditem