Austrian police arrested a 19-year-old suspect on Wednesday who was planning Islamist attacks in the Vienna region, particularly in connection with concerts by American singer Taylor Swift scheduled for the end of the week.
An Austrian citizen who pledged allegiance to the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group has been arrested, the Director General of Public Security, Franz Ruf, said at a press conference, reporting preparatory acts with a focus on Taylor Swift’s concerts in Vienna.
“We have discovered preparatory acts with a focus on Taylor Swift’s concerts in Vienna,” he added, specifying that chemical substances had been seized at the suspect’s home.
The young man was in collusion with another person, also radicalised on the Internet, who was arrested in Vienna, Mr Ruf stressed, without giving further details.
Police measures will be reinforced in the coming days, particularly at the entrance to the concerts of the megastar who is performing on Thursday, Friday and Saturday in the Austrian capital, with 65,000 spectators expected each evening.
The concrete risk has been ruled out for the time being, but as the diffuse danger has increased, we must take the necessary measures and activate our special concert units, said Vienna police chief Gerhard Pürstl.
Austria has stepped up its preventive measures since a jihadist attack on November 2, 2020, which left four dead, the first to hit this usually very safe country of 9.1 million people.
