This is the moment balaclava-clad robbers carrying assault rifles blow up an armoured van in a shocking raid on the Italian motorway.

The gang, dressed in matching white overalls, brought the convoy to a stop with a burning lorry to block their escape on the State Road 613 in Puglia on Monday.

Heavily armed men, believed to be from the Foggia area, used a blue Alfa Romeo with flashing lights to fool the guards into believing they were there to escort the armoured van to safety.

But then they put a bomb on the back of the white van and set it off in a bid to get into the loot inside.

Bullets flew as the gangsters got caught by police in a shootout filmed by motorists.

One round pierced a police car’s windscreen.

Officers managed to fend off the gang attacking the van belonging to security firm Battistolli, who regularly transports luxury watches.

The gangsters hijacked cars from passing motorists to make their escape.

Detectives chasing an Alfa Romeo at high speed found the car abandoned in the countryside and a man trying to make his escape.

He was arrested along with another gang member who had also tried to flee on foot.

There were no injuries reported in the raid.

The Puglia regional secretary general of Un Arma, Nicola Magno said: ‘Once again, the Carabinieri found themselves on the front lines of an extremely violent and organised criminal act.

‘The fact that a patrol was hit by gunfire demonstrates the high level of risk to which our officers are exposed on a daily basis. It is only thanks to the professionalism, composure, and sense of duty of our colleagues that today we are not talking about a tragedy.’

‘The Carabinieri are working courageously to ensure the safety of citizens, but they cannot be left alone in the face of increasingly complex and dangerous operational scenarios.’

‘We demand greater protection,’ the local policing union added, ‘concrete investments in resources, training, and security measures. It is essential to adapt operational and regulatory tools to the current criminal environment, which is increasingly aggressive and militarised. Citizen safety inevitably depends on the safety of the Carabinieri.

‘We cannot wait for injuries or victims to intervene. We need immediate, structured, and lasting responses to protect those who wear the uniform every day.’