Until 2000 , the Carabinieri were part of the Italian Army . On 31 March 2000 , they were separated to become the fourth branch of the Italian Armed Forces . Interpol summarizes this force ( part of the Ministry of Defence ) as having a " nationwide remit for crime investigations . It also serves as the military police for the Italian armed forces and can be called upon for national defence action . " According to Europol ( the EU 's law enforcement agency ) , the Carabinieri Corps ' military duties include " contributing to national defense , participating in military operations in Italy and abroad , executing military police functions and ensuring the security of Italian diplomatic and consular representations " . As a national police force , it " carries out public order and security policing , as well as investigative activities on its own initiative or at the request of the judicial authorities " . Europol also states that the force is " supplemented by the Specialized Carabinieri Commands , responsible for safeguarding the primary interests of the community : from the protection of the environment , health , work and national cultural heritage , to the observance of community and agri-food regulations , to the suppression of forgery of currency " . In recent years Carabinieri units have been dispatched on peacekeeping missions , including Kosovo , Afghanistan , and Iraq . In 2003 , 12 Carabinieri were killed in a suicide bombing on their base in Nasiriyah , near Basra in southern Iraq , in the largest Italian military loss of life in a single action since the Second World War . der . Recent projects ( as of April 2018 ) include training and assisting the Afghan National Security Forces , the Afghan National Police , and the Afghan National Civil Order Police . In Iraq , Carabinieri have trained 13,000 police officers ; during the ISIS destruction of historic sites , Italy dispatched troops from the Carabinieri ’s Command to protect cultural heritage
were killed in a suicide bombing
2003 Nasiriyah bombing
Carabinieri