A SUSPECTED ISIS-inspired terrorist wanted to “kill as many people as possible” outside a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna, officials say.
Three teens have been arrested over a horror plot to mow down fans outside the stadium and launch an attack with knives, machetes and a “dirty bomb”.
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Cops foiled the terror plot the day before Swift’s first concert of the week after US intelligence was passed to Europol and Austrian cops, sources told ABC News.
A 19-year-old Austrian had allegedly planned to carry out an attack at the sold-out gig on Thursday or Friday – with a 17-year-old and a 15-year-old acting as his accomplices.
It’s understood the 19-year-old planned to drive a car into the some 20,000 fans who were due to gather outside Vienna’s huge stadium during the concert.
Just days ago, his friends reportedly infiltrated the event by getting jobs as stewards at the event.
On Thursday, the 19-year-old confessed to planning to “kill as many people as possible” outside the venue, Austrian security officials said.
He also planned to kill himself in the attack, officials added.
It’s alleged that the men had detailed plans on how to carry out a mass attack at the huge Ernst Happel Stadium in Vienna.
According to reports, the trio planned to use knives and machetes in the attack.
Concert organisers said they had “no choice but to cancel the three scheduled shows” lined up for Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
Austria‘s elite Cobra police helped with the arrests on Wednesday – storming the apartment of the 19-year-old in Ternitz after cutting off electricity and gas supplies.
Pictures showed investigators in hazmat suits at the scene.
He was living in his parent’s house along with another man, Kronen Zeitung reports.
Security officials said the suspect recently changed his appearance and had been reading and sharing Islamist propaganda online.
During the search of his home, authorities found various substances and tools used for building bombs.
They also found ISIS propaganda, 21,000 euros in counterfeit money, machetes, knives and blank ammunition.
After the 19-year-old’s arrest in the early hours of Wednesday, two other teens were arrested.
It’s understood the 19-year-old was the mastermind behind the plot – with the two youngsters acting as accomplices.
The 17-year-old Austrian national – who has Turkish-Croatian roots – had been acting conspicuously near Happel Stadium, where Swift’s shows had been due to take place, officials said.
He had been given a job with a company working at the stadium just a few days ago.
The third and final suspect – a 15-year-old boy – is an Austrian national with Turkish heritage, officials said.
Cops are not looking for anyone else in connection with the alleged plot.
The suspects names have not been released due to Austria’s privacy laws.
American intelligence had discovered that at least one of the men pledged support to ISIS-K, an ugly offshoot of the death cult, on Telegram in early July.
Omar Haijawi-Pirchner, the head of the Directorate of State Security and Intelligence, said: “He was clearly radicalised in the direction of the Islamic State and thinks it is right to kill infidels.”
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US intel also uncovered a video which showed one of them swearing allegiance to ISIS, Bild reports.
Franz Ruf, Austria’s Director General for Public Security, said: “During a raid of his home in Ternitz, south of Vienna, investigators found chemical substances and technical devices that indicated concrete preparatory acts.”
Some 65,000 fans were expected at each of Swift’s shows this week with another 20,000 gathering outside the stadium, local outlet Kurier reports.
Ruf said of the attack yesterday: “A concrete threat has been averted.
“The suspected perpetrator was focused on the Taylor Swift concerts. Preparatory actions were detected.”
Investigators believe the attack was inspired by ISIS but not directed by the horror group.
Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer said the cancelled shows are a “bitter disappointment” but added that a “tragedy [had been] prevented”.
The Sun revealed yesterday that Taylor Swift plans to keep on working and finish the tour after the sick plot was foiled on Tuesday.
An insider close to Taylor Swift’s entourage said news of the planned attacks came as a huge shock to the entire team, stressing the day was “not easy.”
Speaking to The U.S. Sun, they said Swift had explained the situation in a meeting, saying they were in “shock”.
The insider went on to say that Taylor held a meeting with her team, who felt “tense” after the threats, to explain what was happening and ensure everyone’s safety.
They claimed Swift is planning to continue working the Eras Tour following the threats.
“We are going to keep working for the next shows coming in London after the stop in Austria, but it wasn’t an easy day to, that is for sure,” the source continued.
Many devastated Swift fans from across the globe had dropped thousands on travel for the Eras Tour shows in Austria.
Barbaric history of ISIS
ISIS, also known as the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, is a murderous terrorist network that officially formed in 2004.
The group, known for its barbaric public executions and beheadings, was originally part of al-Qaeda – the terrorists responsible for 9/11 which sparked the decades-long global War on Terror.
They took advantage of instability in Iraq and Syria after 2000 to rule with an iron fist.
After an injection of American troops into Iraq in 2007, ISIS lost some of its power grip in the region.
But it began to reemerge in 2011 and by 2014 the US had formed Operation Inherent Resolve.
The mission involved putting American boots on the ground in Iraq and Syria – as well as other regions in the Middle East.
In 2014, ISIS was the most powerful, best-equipped and wealthiest Islamic extremist group the world had ever seen.
By 2015 it had branches operating in at least eight other countries.
That October, their Egypt network bombed a Russian plane and killed over 220 people.
In November 2015, 130 were murdered and over 300 injured during one of their most brutal attacks on the West in Paris.
And in June 2016, a gunman who pledged himself to the murderous organisation killed at least 48 people at a nightclub in Florida.
By December 2017, ISIS had lost 95 per cent of it’s stolen territory.
But its core ideologies, which included a burning hatred for the Western way of life, continued to inspire countless terrorist attacks around the world.
While American combat in Iraq was officially axed in December 2021, 2,500 troops were left stationed there to work as advisers and trainers for Iraqi security forces trying to fend off extremist forces.
There are believed to be less than 1,000 still stationed in Syria.
Three of those American troops were killed in Jordan on January 28 – in a drone attack at a US military base near the Syrian and Iraq borders.
