A 19-year-old IS sympathiser arrested in Austria was planning a suicide assault at a Taylor Swift live performance in Vienna designed to kill many individuals, the intelligence company stated on Thursday.
“He stated he meant to hold out an assault utilizing explosives and knives,” home intelligence company (DSN) head Omar Haijawi-Pirchner instructed a information convention.
In the meantime, the BBC experiences that the three upcoming Taylor Swift concert events in Vienna have been cancelled following a potential safety risk.
The exhibits, a part of Swift’s Eras tour, had been because of happen on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday on the Ernst Happel Stadium.
An announcement from the organisers stated: “On account of affirmation by authorities officers of a deliberate terrorist assault on the Ernst Happel Stadium, we have now no alternative however to cancel the three deliberate exhibits for everybody’s security.”
The assertion added, “All tickets will likely be mechanically refunded throughout the subsequent 10 working days.”
Earlier, Austria’s Normal Director for Public Safety, Franz Ruf, stated a 19-year-old Austrian citizen had been arrested on Wednesday morning in Ternitz within the province of Decrease Austria.
He stated a second arrest befell in Vienna within the afternoon however gave no additional particulars concerning the suspect.
“In accordance with the present standing of the investigation, the 2 suspects turned radicalised by way of the web,” Mr Ruf stated.
Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer stated in a put up on X that the cancellations can be a “bitter disappointment for all followers” however that the state of affairs had been “very critical”.
“Because of the intensive cooperation of our police and [security agencies] with overseas companies, the risk was acknowledged early, combated and a tragedy prevented.”
The top of police in Vienna, Gerhard Pürstl, stated 65,000 individuals per day had been anticipated to attend the concert events, in addition to 22,000 followers exterior the venue.
“His intention was to kill himself and numerous individuals through the live performance, both immediately or tomorrow.”
The time period “IS” usually refers back to the Islamic State, also called ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) or ISIL (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant).
It’s a militant group that originated from the remnants of Al-Qaeda in Iraq and gained prominence through the Syrian Civil Battle.