ISIS plot against Taylor Swift concert in Vienna narrowly foiled by cops – with 19-year-old among 2 arrested
COPS have foiled a suspected ISIS-linked plot to attack a Taylor Swift concert in Austria.
Terrorists were reportedly planning to target the pop star’s show at Vienna’s Ernst Happel Stadium – where she is set to play a sold-out gig on Thursday.
Two suspects, including a 19-year-old man, have been arrested after authorities found various chemicals and other substances at their residence in Vienna.
Authorities, who received a tip from foreign intelligence agencies, asked local residents to evacuate the place as they cordoned off the roads during the operation.
Franz Ruf, Austrian Director General for Public Safety, said of the attack: “A concrete threat has been averted.
“The suspected perpetrator was focused on the Taylor Swift concerts. Preparatory actions were detected.”
One of the suspects is a native Austrian – and is said to have joined the Islamic terror outfit in June, New York Post reports.
Authorities are still investigating the case – and believe there are other suspects at large, according to Austrian media.
It is understood the stadium has not yet been deemed safe for the public.
It comes after cops foiled a suspected terror plot from IS ahead of England’s Euros final – raiding a series of addresses just hours before kick-off.
Officers swooped amid fears of an imminent attack on the Three Lions fan zone in Berlin’s sprawling Breitscheidplatz.
Three suspects were detained by German special forces during a series of coordinated raids in nearby Potsdam.
It has since emerged that police searched three addresses while looking for five men after pictures were taken on phones of Breitscheidplatz and a large church.
The men were said to be known IS supporters already under German police surveillance.
German cops also arrested a suspected ISIS terrorist while he was trying to sneak his way into the Euros.
Anti-terror investigators caught Soufian T, 23, who is said to have applied to get a pass as a security guard for “side events” outside the football stadium.
Cops from the Cologne police department, along with investigators from the Bonn State Security Service and federal police, arrested the German-Moroccan-Polish citizen with his mother and sister at Cologne-Bonn Airport.
Several mobile phones and cash worth £2,100 were seized.
Terrorist threat 'acute' across Europe
By Jessica Baker, Foreign News Reporter
THE threat of terrorism to the security of Europe is “acute”, the EU’s law enforcement agency warns.
Europol said the top concern of EU countries is “jihadist terrorism” and foreign terrorist fighters who travel from conflict zones.
Some fear the terror group ISIS could be looking to leverage conflict in the Middle East to launch a fresh of attacks across Europe.
Ten jihadist attacks have been foiled by cops in Europe in the past 12 months alone, according to Dutch intelligence agency AIVD.
The agency claimed attacks planned and intercepted included stabbing rampages at major events and assaults on specific groups and venues.
Israel’s spy agency meanwhile alleged Iranian terror cells are plotting attacks across the continent ahead of the Paris Olympics.
The Olympics chief has promised a ring of steel at the Games’ opening ceremony and insisted “security is the priority” to ensure the safety of an expected 15 million fans and more than 10,000 athletes.
The terror outfit had also threatened chilling attacks on the Paris Olympics in an appalling poster message.
The death cult posted a propaganda image showing one of its terrorists seemingly flying an “armed drone” to attack the iconic Eiffel Tower.
The poster, pushed by ISIS-linked social media channels, was captioned: “Lone wolves’ Olympics have begun with the Will of Allah.”
France has been on high alert amid a slew of vile threats made by Islamic terror outfits.
Just a few days ago, French counter-terror cops foiled a plot for an “Islamist-inspired” attack which was planned for during the Olympic Games.
A NEW WAVE OF BLOODSHED
In recent weeks, ISIS have resurfaced across Europe and the US in a concerning escalation putting British counter-terror experts on high alert.
Will Geddes spoke to The Sun and said he would not be surprised if the UK’s terror threat level increases.
He said: “I would be remarkably surprised if we did not see a terrorist attack on the UK or on European soil, certainly in the next few months.”
These worries have stemmed from a horrific attack in Moscow as four ISIS-K gunmen unleashed gunfire on concert-goers, slaughtering over 140 and publishing horrific videos of their deaths.
It was the worst Islamic extremist terror attack in Europe to date.
Paris is expected to take further measures in the coming months amid the rising chilling threats.
France raised its terror threat level to the highest marker after the Moscow attack – meaning an attack is “imminent”.
Meanwhile, Western intelligence revealed how cops stopped at least 12 terror attacks in the past 12 months across Europe.
Ten jihadist attacks have been bravely intercepted and prevented in Europe last year, says Dutch intelligence agency AIVD.
Among the attacks foiled include stabbing rampages at global events, and barbaric assaults on specific venues and groups being targeted, the annual report revealed.
AIVD, the Dutch agency that made the report, listed two potential reasons for the high number of attacks in the last year.
It said: “There were two mobilising issues: the destruction of Korans in the Netherlands and other European countries and the conflict between Israel and Hamas.”