ITALY'S IMMIGRATION BATTLEGROUND

''THERE'S starting to be be too many of them,'' says a young man at a bar in the central Italian city of Macerata.

He does not wish to give his name but the ''them'' he talks about are migrants.

The issue has dominated political headlines in Italy ahead of parliamentary elections: ''If you walk in certain areas at night, you see them in groups. You can't help but be scared,'' the man says.

Fear of immigrants - and of a far-right anti-immigrant backlash - has overshadowed election discussions about the economy.

People in Macerata know the conflicting arguments better than most. At the end of January the body of 18-year old Pamela Mastropietro was found dismembered in two suitcases near the city,

A Nigerian man was arrested. Days later a far-right activist, Laca Traini, went on a two-hour shooting spree targeting African migrants in Macerata, injuring six.

The events set off waves of condemnation, protests and counter-protests.

Right-wing campaigners used the death of Mastropietro to promote their anti-immigrant message. Within days, two small but headline-grabbing demonstrations from  far-right groups in Macerata garnered headlines.

Then thousands of anti-fascists descended on the city,

''It was a bolt from the blue for us, you know? We're not used to this sort of thing,'' says Laura, a mother of six-year old twins, outside the children's school.

''Macerata is a really peaceful city and it's been hard to deal with what happened.''

[Agencies].