The United States provided Austria with intelligence that helped foil a planned jihadist attack, the White House revealed on Friday, August 9. Two young men wanted to carry out the attack during American pop megastar Taylor Swift’s concerts in Vienna.
“The United States shared intelligence with (our) Austrian partners to help thwart a threat to Taylor Swift concerts” in Vienna, said John Kirby, spokesman for the National Security Council, on Friday, August 9, after the cancellation this week of concerts in the Austrian capital by the world-famous American singer.
“About ten to fifteen days ago”
Two young men aged 19 and 17 – of Turkish-Croatian and North Macedonian origin – were imprisoned on Wednesday 7 August after the revelation of a suicide attack plan. They are suspected of having wanted to kill “as many people as possible” according to authorities, at one of three Taylor Swift concerts scheduled for Thursday through Saturday in Vienna. A third young man, an 18-year-old Iraqi claiming to be a member of the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group, was arrested in Vienna on Thursday evening, Austrian Interior Minister Gerhard Karner said on Friday.
Austria informed of planned attack “about ten to fifteen days ago” by two countries that shared information with its military intelligence services, according to the APA news agency. In Washington, John Kirby said the United States was working “working closely with partners around the world to monitor and thwart threats.”
Taylor Swift has been on her “Eras” tour in Europe since May. The 34-year-old superstar has not responded to the cancellations in Austria, but she did say she was finally jués during a dance class to her songs.
Marianne LEROUX with AFP
