Terrorism expert Marco Lombardi said methods used by Italian police against the mafia are helping in the battle against ISIS

Italy's battle against the mafia could be helping authorities tackle extremists - and organised criminals could be keeping ISIS at bay, it is claimed.

Yesterday Berlin truck killer Anis Amri was shot dead after opening fire on two police officers at around 3am in Milan.

When he was approached in the Sesto San Giovanni suburb, the officers had no idea they were dealing with Europe's most wanted man.

Yesterday Marco Lombardi, a terrorism expert at the Catholic University in Milan, told The Times: 'It's no surprise that a new police unit has recently been formed in Italy which fights both the mafia and terrorism, bringing together officers who share surveillance techniques.'

And he added: 'There are other factors to explain why Italy has not suffered a major attack, from the absence of a third generation of Muslim migrants, who tend to carry out attacks, to the mafia themselves, which does not want these people operating on its turf.'

WHAT WAS BERLIN MASSACRE TERRORIST DOING IN ITALY? Investigators are trying to determine why terrorist Anis Amri was in Milan when he was shot dead yesterday morning. The killer, who did not have any documents on him and was not carrying a phone, was approached by officers in the Sesto San Giovanni suburb at 3am. He was gunned down after opening fire on two police, who had no idea that he was Europe's most wanted man. The suburb is a hub for transport, and is the last stop on the city's metro line. Killer: Anis Amri was gunned down in a Milan suburb early yesterday morning, after being approached by two police officers It has a busy bus terminal where buses leave for Spain, Morocco, Albania and southern Italy, but police patrols are particularly thorough. A young Moroccan worker called Aziz said: 'I get checked by police every day getting off the bus. 'At night this place is deserted, which would explain why somebody alone here would be immediately spotted by a police patrol.' Italian daily La Stampa reports police believe Amri arrived in Italy by train from Chambery, southeastern France. Investigators at the scene of yesterday's shooting, where the terrorist opened fire on two police officers They think he stopped for three hours in Turin, where police are now checking video surveillance footage for clues as to any contact with accomplices. But none of the images they have seen so far show him using a phone, and according to Milan police chief Antonio De Iesu, he did not have one with him when he was shot dead. He is believed to have arrived in Milan at 1am yesterday, before going to Sesto San Giovanni. It is not known whether he was there to meet members of a network, or trying to get out of Europe. He could have been planning some kind of revenge against Italy, where he was jailed for four years in 2011 for arson. Police chief De Iesu told journalists that Amri had 'no links with the Sesto mosque', but locals wonder if he had contacts nearby. 'Some people are worried,' said Tommaso Trivolo, who lives in a high-rise building opposite the train station from where he saw the ambulances arriving with screaming sirens just after the shooting. Advertisement

The dramatic climax to Europe’s most urgent manhunt unfolded at 3am yesterday, shortly after Amri got off a train in Milan’s Sesto San Giovanni district and was seen acting suspiciously.

As he was challenged, the fugitive pulled a gun from his backpack, screamed ‘Allahu Akbar’ and opened fire on the two officers – hitting one, Christian Movio, 35, in the shoulder.

At the time the officers stopped Amri, they had no idea he was the most wanted man in Europe.

His colleague, Luca Scatà, 29, a trainee police officer who had been in the job only a few months, gave chase before shooting Amri dead in the street.