<\/p>\n
A 19-year-old IS sympathiser arrested in Austria was planning a suicide attack at a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna designed to kill many people, the intelligence agency said on Thursday.<\/p>\n
Austrian authorities detained two suspects Wednesday for allegedly plotting to attack this week\u2019s Vienna concerts by the US star, which organisers canceled at the last minute.<\/p>\n
The 19-year-old main suspect had confessed, saying he \u201cintended to carry out an attack using explosives and knives,\u201d domestic intelligence agency (DSN) head Omar Haijawi-Pirchner told a news conference.<\/p>\n
\u201cHis aim was to kill himself and a large number of people during the concert\u2026 either today or tomorrow,\u201d he added. The concerts were to run from Thursday to Saturday.<\/p>\n
The second suspect, a 17-year-old Austrian, was employed at a facility management company which would have \u201cprovided services\u201d at the Ernst Happel Stadium where Swift was to perform, said Haijawi-Pirchner.<\/p>\n
The younger suspect, who has so far refused to talk to authorities, was \u201cin the area\u201d of the stadium where he was detained, said Haijawi-Pirchner.<\/p>\n
According to Interior Minister Gerhard Karner, a \u201ctragedy was averted\u201d. \u201cThe situation was very serious\u201d, he added, particularly in view of a recent attack at a Taylor Swift themed event in Britain, where three girls were killed in Great Britain.<\/p>\n
Explosives and detonators were found in a search of the main suspect\u2019s apartment, authorities said.<\/p>\n
\u2013 Disappointed Swifties \u2013
\nAustria\u2019s top security chief Franz Ruf told reporters the two suspects had recently made changes in their private lives,<\/p>\n
The main suspect, an Austrian with Northern Macedonian roots, had changed \u201chis appearance and adapted it to Islamic State propaganda\u201d, while the second, an Austrian of Turkish or Croatian origin, had broken up with his girlfriend, he said.<\/p>\n
Ruf earlier confirmed that authorities had received information \u201cfrom foreign partners\u201d which led to the arrests, but he declined to specify.<\/p>\n
Police had promised to ramp up security for the concerts while having minimised any concrete danger, but organisers still canceled Swift\u2019s shows. About 65,000 people were expected at each show.<\/p>\n
Taylor Swift did not immediately comment on the decision to cancel the Vienna shows but after the British attack said she was \u201ccompletely in shock\u201d. Three girls were killed and five people seriously wounded in the mass stabbing at a dance class in Southport inspired by the American singer.<\/p>\n
According to Ruf, police \u201cdid everything humanly possible to ensure\u201d that the Vienna concerts \u201ccould go ahead\u201d, but the cancellation decision was taken by the organisers.<\/p>\n
The 34-year-old star was to bring her record-breaking \u201cEras\u201d Tour, which began its European leg in Paris in May, to Vienna on Thursday.<\/p>\n
Following France, the tour stopped in Sweden, Portugal, Spain, the United Kingdom, Ireland, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Italy, Germany and Poland.<\/p>\n
In Austria, more than 170,000 spectators were expected to attend the shows, bringing in some 100 million euros, according to estimates by the news agency APA.<\/p>\n
By the end of the year, \u201cEras\u201d had already become the first tour to sell more than $1 billion in tickets and it is on track to more than double that by the time it concludes in Vancouver in December.<\/p>\n
Austria experienced its first deadly jihadist attack in November 2020, when a convicted IS sympathiser went on a shooting rampage in Vienna, killing four people and wounding 23 before police shot him dead.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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