ROME: Leftist politicians on Sunday pinned blame for a racist shooting spree in central Italy on the far-right League party that looks set to make major gains in a March 4 national election.

Six African migrants were shot and injured on Saturday in the city of Macerata by an Italian man named as Luca Traini, who last year stood as a League candidate in a local ballot, but failed to win any votes.

Police said Traini, who has a neo-Nazi symbol tattooed above his eyebrow, admitted to carrying out the drive-by shootings and had shown no remorse.

League leader Matteo Salvini, who has forged an electoral pact with former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, distanced himself from the attack, but said the violence was the direct result of mass immigration into Italy in recent years.

“If anyone is to blame, it is the government which has allowed hundreds of thousands of illegal migrants to come here without any limits,” Salvini told La Stampa newspaper on Sunday.