(Vienna) A third man claiming to be from the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group has been arrested in Vienna after the revelation of a suicide attack plan, which led to the cancellation of concerts by American star Taylor Swift, authorities announced on Friday.
“An 18-year-old Iraqi close to the main suspect and having pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group was arrested” in the Austrian capital on Thursday evening, Interior Minister Gerhard Karner told the press.
Two other youths, aged 19 and 17, were imprisoned in this case. They were arrested on Wednesday while they were suspected of wanting to kill “as many people as possible” according to the authorities, during one of the three shows planned this week.
The first, an Austrian originally from North Macedonia, “made a full confession and said that he intended to commit an attack using explosives and bladed weapons,” said the director of the intelligence services (DSN), Omar Haijawi-Pirchner, on Thursday.
The second suspect is an Austrian of Turkish-Croatian origin, “employed for several days by a subcontracting company which was to provide services to the stadium,” the official added.
This element was decisive in the decision to cancel the performances, explained the organizers, who were praised despite the disappointment of the fans in their decision by the conservative chancellor Karl Nehammer for whom a “bloodbath” could be avoided.
Austria was informed of the planned attack “about 10 to 15 days ago” by two countries that shared their information with its military intelligence services, the APA news agency reported.
The 34-year-old singer was due to perform in Vienna from Thursday to Saturday as part of her tour. Erasthe European part of which started in May in Paris.
PHOTO HEINZ-PETER BADER, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Swifties sing and dance in Vienna on August 9.
After France, Taylor Swift, who has still not spoken, went to Sweden, Portugal, Spain, the United Kingdom, Ireland, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Italy, Germany and Poland, each time with a notable impact on the local economy.
In Austria, more than 170,000 spectators were expected for an estimated revenue of around 100 million euros, according to figures provided by APA.