Taylor Swift has been forced to abandon concerts in Vienna, Austria after police uncovered an Islamic State-linked terror plot involving three teenagers. Bomb material was found at the home of the alleged ringleader. Vienna police released information on the teenagers, two of whom were arrested on Wednesday. Taylor Swift was set to perform on Thursday.
The plot’s ringleader, a 19-year-old born with Austrian citizenship but born in North Macedonia, is said to be a radical Muslim who pledged allegiance to the Islamic State in July. Investigators say they found explosives, knives, machetes, and 21,000 euros in counterfeit money during searches of his home.
He is said to have been radicalized online and used encrypted messaging apps to communicate with the other suspects, aged 17 and 15. The 17-year-old is an Austrian citizen with a Turkish and Croatian background and was employed at a company that provided services at concerts. The 15-year-old is said to have been involved in preparations for the attack, but he was only questioned, not arrested.
Austrian authorities say the attack was likely to occur outside of the concert as people gathered, with the 19-year-old intending to blow himself up. A similar attack was carried out in Manchester, England, at an Ariana Grande concert, leaving 22 dead and over a thousand injured, including many children.
The Vienna plot comes just months after a mass killing of concert-goers in Moscow, Russia, blamed on ISIS-K, an Islamic State offshoot. This attack saw 130 people killed.
It also comes just over a week after the fatal stabbing of three young girls aged six, seven, and nine at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport, in the United Kingdom. The suspect in these killings, which have sparked nationwide protests, is the son of two African migrants.
