Armed gang posing as police blow up cash van in extraordinary 'Italian Job' attack

The criminals, sporting balaclavas to hide their identities, blocked the motorway with a truck, which was then set alight.

This forced the cash van to come to a stop - and prevented police from arriving on the scene.

Robbers were then seen running around to the back of the van before blowing its doors off with explosives - in a blast reminiscent of the iconic Italian Job scene.

Police then arrived and exchanged shots with the group.

Events were filmed by passing motorists who were stunned as the chaos unfolded.

"Look, look, look, look…They are robbing the van, look," said one onlooker who caught the explosion with his phone.

The modern-day highway robbery took place on Monday morning between the cities of Lecce and Brindisi in the southern region of Puglia.

Onlookers told police that the culprits fled at high speed in their Alfa Romeo.

The police intercepted the car and arrested two men near the town of Squinzano.

Now, authorities are looking for four more men who are believed to have participated in the raid.

Traffic was closed in both directions while authorities carried out investigations.

The gunmen are believed to have come from Foggia, a town in Puglia with a reputation for being the home turf of gangs which regularly hold up security vans.

Puglia also serves as the home of one of Italy's four "branches" of the mafia - the "Sacra Corona Unita" group which runs out of cities like Brindisi and Lecce.

Nicola Magno, the secretary general of the regional police union, said he was concerned for the safety of officers in the Carabinieri, one of Italy's main law enforcement agencies and a branch of the Italian armed forces.

He said: "Once again, Carabinieri officers find themselves on the front line of a criminal action that is extremely violent and well-organised."

"The fact that a patrol was targeted with shots shows the high level of risk that our officers are being exposed to on a regular basis.

"It is only thanks to the professionalism, cool heads and sense of duty of our colleagues that we are not talking about a tragedy."

Mr Magno said police need better vehicles, training and equipment to grapple with criminal gangs.

It is currently unknown how much money the van's robbers made off with.