An Italian far-left group has claimed responsibility for a letter bomb sent to Germany’s top banker, German police said yesterday, adding that further explosives may still be in the post.

State police said it was possible that the “terrorist left-wing anarchist” group had sent other bombs in addition to one intercepted Wednesday addressed to Deutsche Bank CEO Josef Ackermann at the bank’s Frankfurt headquarters.

“In the intensive search for evidence, authorities from the Hesse state crime office found a hidden, rolled up letter written in Italian,” police said in a statement.

“In it, the ‘FAI – Federazione Anarchica Informale’ (Informal Anarchist Federation) claimed responsibility for the attempted letter bomb attack against Dr Ackermann. The authors spoke of ‘three explosions against banks, bankers, ticks and bloodsuckers’.

“Based on that, one must assume that another two mail bombs may have been sent,” police said.

They said the FAI was behind several attacks against European institutions, including an attempted letter bombing against the European Central Bank in Frankfurt in 2003.

“At that time, the FAI also wrote to claim responsibility,” it said, although German authorities were never able to identify individual suspects.

The brown envelope addressed to the Swiss-born Ackermann arrived at Deutsche Bank’s mailroom and was x-rayed after it raised suspicion among staff. Police said yesterday it contained a live bomb.