Attack on Swift Concert in Vienna: 19-Year-Old was Part of IS-Network

The monitoring of messenger services, which is not permitted in Austria, could have led more quickly to the main suspect, who is being investigated in connection with a suspected thwarted terrorist attack on a Taylor Swift concert planned for August 9, 2024, at the Ernst-Happel-Stadium. This is suggested by the latest findings in the Vienna Public Prosecutor's Office's proceedings against the 19-year-old from Ternitz (District of Neunkirchen), which became known over the weekend.

Messenger Monitoring Could Have Led to Faster Arrest

The Directorate for State Security and Intelligence Service (DSN) did not have the violent supporter of the radical Islamist terrorist militia "Islamic State" on their radar when he began discussing attack plans with two other young men in February 2024 and travelled to Dubai in March. There, he apparently intended to stab a soldier in front of a mosque at the beginning of the Ramadan fasting month and then "shoot at people in the vicinity" with the soldier's revolver, as he later revealed according to an interrogation protocol quoted by the "Kronen Zeitung" last weekend. However, he then lost his courage. He decided "at the last moment" against an attack because he feared "dying in a hail of police bullets and having to suffer beforehand," he stated in the protocol.

Terror Suspect Was Part of an ISIS Network

The 19-year-old returned to Austria without having carried out his plans and is believed to have started preparations after some time to kill as many fans of the pop singer as possible in and in front of the Happel Stadium in the name of ISIS during a terrorist attack at a Swift performance. The DSN only became aware of this on August 2nd thanks to a tip from the FBI. After brief but intense investigations, the man was arrested on August 7th.

It is now considered certain that the 19-year-old was part of a terrorist network that was likely composed of more than a dozen ISIS supporters. One of them was a 20-year-old Lower Austrian who carried out his attack plans and seriously injured five people in front of the Al-Haram Mosque in Mecca on March 11, 2024. The Lower Austrian has been in custody in Saudi Arabia ever since. The 20-year-old, with whom the 19-year-old had exchanged information in the weeks before the attacks planned by both of them in Mecca and Dubai, was already on the DSN's radar. Experts therefore assume that after the attack in Mecca, monitoring chats in the 20-year-old's environment would have led to the young man from Ternitz well before the summer and his bloody intentions could possibly have been prevented early on.

Threats in Austria are Getting Younger

Currently, in Austria, there are individuals in the triple digits who are considered threats in the area of Islamist extremism, who must be suspected of planning attacks. These individuals are getting younger - some of them are not even 14 and therefore not criminally responsible, but they carry their ideology and the associated readiness for violence into schools. Last year, for example, a ten-year-old was taken out of circulation and handed over to youth welfare after a so-called threat discussion. Due to his young age, he could not be held criminally responsible.

Experts in the field therefore consider it essential to expand prevention work in schools and other social institutions. For already known young Islamists with prison experience, close police and social work supervision would be necessary after release from prison to achieve long-term deradicalization and reintegration into society. However, there is currently a lack of financial and personnel resources in many places.

Viennese Ball Season as a Target for Attacks

Currently, the second highest terror warning level applies in this country. Recently, large events and the Viennese ball season have been mentioned as potential targets for attacks.

(APA/Red)

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