An 18-year-old Iraqi national, who recently pledged allegiance to the Islamic State (ISIS), has become the third suspect arrested in connection with a thwarted terrorist plot targeting Taylor Swift’s now-canceled concerts in Austria. Austrian Interior Minister Gerhard Karner revealed that the individual is linked to a 19-year-old main suspect, an Austrian with North Macedonian roots, who allegedly had bomb-making materials, chemicals, and technical devices at his home.
The primary suspect confessed to planning an attack aimed at killing as many people as possible outside the sold-out Eras Tour concerts, which were scheduled for this week in Vienna. The attack was intended to involve knives or homemade explosives.
Although the 18-year-old suspect had connections with the main perpetrator, he was not directly involved in the attack plans. However, authorities discovered that he had taken an oath of allegiance to ISIS on August 6, shortly before his arrest in Vienna on Thursday night. Along with him, a 17-year-old has been arrested, and a 15-year-old has been interrogated, though not named as a suspect.
Omar Haijawi-Pirchner, head of the Directorate of State Security and Intelligence, stated that the 19-year-old main suspect was “clearly radicalized in the direction of the Islamic State and thinks it is right to kill infidels.”
Investigators are now focusing on examining the suspects’ networks and analyzing both physical and electronic evidence. The concert organizers had expected up to 65,000 fans inside the stadium and around 30,000 onlookers outside during the shows. The attack was reportedly planned for Thursday or Friday.
As a result of the foiled plot, the trio of concerts in Vienna was abruptly canceled on Wednesday. However, a series of five concerts starting next Thursday at London’s Wembley Stadium are still set to go ahead as planned.
