Jihadists originally from North Macedonia are shaking Austria again
The 19-year-old jihadist, who was arrested on Wednesday by the Austrian police on charges of preparing a terrorist attack at one of the three Taylor Swift concerts scheduled for today, tomorrow and Saturday, is originally from North Macedonia.
According to the Puls24 website, the 19-year-old's family moved from Vienna to the city of Ternitz, where the arrest took place. According to the same source, the family of the 19-year-old boy, whose members have Austrian citizenship, comes from North Macedonia and has Albanian roots.
Otherwise, as the text adds, by origin is from North Macedonia e and the jihadist who carried out the terrorist attack in Vienna on November 2, 2020, resulting in four deaths and 23 injuries.
Namely, the perpetrator of the terrorist attack in Vienna in 2020, 20-year-old Kujtim Fejzulai, originally from the village of Chelopek, was not known to the Macedonian security services. He possessed a Macedonian passport, but he rarely visited the country and it has not been determined where he became radicalized in order to carry out a terrorist attack.
According to information published in the Austrian media, the 19-year-old who was arrested yesterday was recently radicalized by his neighbors, stating that "suddenly one day he appeared with a beard like the Taliban." According to the same testimonies, they also saw a woman in a burqa in his apartment.
Austrian media also report that the 19-year-old worked in a laboratory and allegedly stole chemicals from there that can be used to make explosives. Such chemicals were found in his home and an autopsy is being performed.
In addition to the 19-year-old, the Austrian authorities, who, according to "Bild", were informed about the planned coup by a foreign secret service, arrested two 17-year-olds as suspects of the same planned coup.
But the Austrian "Kurier" reports that two more people are wanted for the same case, and therefore it was finally decided to cancel all Taylor Swift concerts in Austria.
The German newspaper also reported that another country's secret service found a video of one of the suspects declaring his allegiance to the Islamic State, the kind that usually follow a terrorist attack as evidence of an ISIS claim of responsibility.
When asked how specific the arrested jihadist's plans are, Franz Ruff, director general of public safety, said:
"Of course, there was adequate communication, including in an encrypted manner, on the Internet and the appropriate forums, but there were also concrete preparatory activities on site in the apartment building in Ternitz where the 19-year-old lived."
During the search of the house, action was taken by the appropriate security services due to the knowledge of dangerous substances and "chemical substances, several substances and technical means" were discovered, which are now being evaluated.
Specialists from the anti-terrorist unit "Cobra" broke into the apartment of a terrorist suspect in an apartment block in the center of Ternitz on Wednesday morning. After technicians from the energy supplier EVN preemptively shut off the electricity and gas to the house, everything was ready for access, informed the Chief of the Vienna Police, Gerhard Purstl.
Press conference on Thursday morning
Following the cancellation of Taylor Swift's concerts due to possible attack plans, Austrian Chancellor Karl Neuhammer described the situation surrounding a planned terrorist attack on Wednesday night as "very serious". Thanks to the police and DSN, "the threat was identified early, suppressed and a tragedy was prevented.
- There is still only "bitter disappointment" for the fans - X's chancellor said.
According to Nehammer, the investigation is still in full swing, and the police will hold a press conference on Thursday morning to inform about the progress of the investigation.
There was a state of emergency and an intensive police investigation in Ternitz all day on Wednesday. Namely, the 19-year-old suspect was arrested in the early hours of the morning. What followed was a massive police operation involving the evacuation of several houses, roadblocks, house searches and confiscations, then another arrest in Vienna, possible plans for an attack and, late in the evening, the cancellation of Taylor Swift concerts planned for Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
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