Austria Reeling From Threat of Terror Attack That Cancelled Swift Concerts
By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
VIENNA (Worthy News) – Austria was reeling Friday from Islamic terrorist threats that caused American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift to cancel her concerts for tens of thousands of people.
Austrian authorities say they have detained two suspects for planning an attack on one of the three concerts set to be held in the Ernst Happel Stadium on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.
The discovery was part of an increase in Islamic terrorism since Hamas attacked Israel last year, Austrian Interior Minister Gerhard Karner told reporters.
Austria’s state police and domestic intelligence said that one suspect was a 19-year-old who swore allegiance to the Islamic State group, also known as ISIS.
He was reportedly the son of ethnic Albanian immigrants from Macedonia. He quit his job last month, saying he was “planning something big,” according to investigators.
Police found bomb-making chemicals, explosives, and machetes in his home.
The second suspect was a 17-year-old who worked at the concert site. A third person was detained for questioning, and police suspect that others were involved.
SUSPECTS DETAINED
They were detained in the Austrian town of Ternitz and Vienna while they were preparing to carry out a terror attack, police explained. “Both suspects had become radicalized on the internet and had taken concrete preparatory actions for a terrorist attack,” the Ministry of the Interior and the Vienna State Police said.
“The situation was serious; the situation continues to be serious,” Karner said. “The threat of Islamic terrorism in Europe is on the rise after the attack by Hamas in Israel. Austria is no exception,”
Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer said on social media.
“We live in a time in which violent means are being used to attack our Western way of life. Islamist terrorism threatens security and freedom in many Western countries,” he wrote on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.
“This is precisely why we will not give up our values, such as freedom and democracy, but will defend them even more vehemently,” he added.
Ernst Happel Stadium, which was believed to be the target, is Austria’s largest concert venue, seating over 50,000.
Vienna was the second-to-last stop on Swift’s European tour. She is set to perform at London’s Wembley Stadium next week before jetting off to Canada.
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