Cell gets bigger

Swift attack: Next terror teenager in custody!

A Taylor Swift concert was to be the target of the attack. The young man who has now been arrested is said to have been in on the plans.

(Bild: Krone KREATIV/AFP, APA/ALEX HALADA)

The terror cell surrounding a 19-year-old who planned an attack on one of the Taylor Swift concerts in Vienna is getting bigger and bigger. Now the "Krone" has learned that another arrest has already been made. Another teenage boy, as confirmed by the Ministry of the Interior. 

The charges are anything but harmless: another suspect is being investigated for "attempted mass murder" in connection with the planned terrorist attack on one of the Taylor Swift concerts in Vienna.

Another terror teenager in custody
The "terror teenager" - he is 18 years old - is said to have at least been privy to the plans of the 19-year-old from Ternitz (Lower Austria). Whether he was also involved in the activities of the young Islamists is still under investigation.

According to information from "Krone", the 18-year-old is said to be an Iraqi citizen who is currently in Austria as a refugee with protection status. The revocation of this status is already underway and the 18-year-old is to be deported as soon as possible, confirmed Interior Minister Gerhard Karner (ÖVP). Like the main suspect from Lower Austria, the Iraqi is also said to have sworn allegiance to IS on August 6. 

On the right in the picture is the main suspect Beran A. He gave himself the combat name "Mo" in allusion to the Prophet Mohammed.

(Bild: Krone KREATIV/APA/Eva Manhart, zVg)

Terrorist had "big" plans
The Lower Austrian with North Macedonian roots and his 17-year-old colleague, who was arrested on the grounds of Vienna's Happel Stadium, had meant business. Strong social changes would also prove this. The 19-year-old had quit his job and announced that he had "big plans". "He has conspicuously changed his appearance and adapted it to the IS."

In addition to the 19-year-old and the 17-year-old, another boy (15), whose role has not yet been fully clarified, was also detained and questioned. However, he was released again.

Pre-trial detention requested for terror duo
The two men arrested on Wednesday have since been taken to Wiener Neustadt prison. In the meantime, both the 19-year-old and the 17-year-old have been remanded in custody. 

The terror duo are still under investigation for terrorist association (§ 278b of the Criminal Code) and criminal organization (§ 278a of the Criminal Code).