Washington claims to have given information to Austria to foil an attack

John Kirby, a spokesman for the National Security Council, said the United States was working “closely with partners around the world to monitor and disrupt threats.”

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John Kirby speaks during a press briefing in the White House press briefing room in Washington, DC, on July 31, 2024. (ALEX WONG / AFP)

“The United States shared intelligence with (our) Austrian partners to help foil a threat to Taylor Swift concerts”said John Kirby, spokesman for the National Security Council, on Friday, August 9. Two young men, aged 19 and 17, of Turkish-Croatian and North Macedonian origin, were imprisoned on Wednesday 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 jihadist group, was arrested Thursday evening in Vienna, Austrian Interior Minister Gerhard Karner said Friday. Austria has been informed of the planned attack “about ten to fifteen days ago” by two countries that shared information with its military intelligence services, according to the Austrian news agency APA. In Washington, John Kirby said the United States was working “working closely with partners around the world to monitor and thwart threats”.


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