Austria foils IS-linked plot to bomb Taylor Swift concert

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.

“He said he intended to carry out an attack using explosives and knives,” domestic intelligence agency (DSN) head Omar Haijawi-Pirchner told a news conference.

Meanwhile, the BBC reports that the three upcoming Taylor Swift concerts in Vienna have been cancelled following a possible security threat.

The shows, part of Swift’s Eras tour, were due to take place on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday at the Ernst Happel Stadium.

A statement from the organisers said: “Due to confirmation by government officials of a planned terrorist attack at the Ernst Happel Stadium, we have no choice but to cancel the three planned shows for everyone’s safety.”

The statement added, “All tickets will be automatically refunded within the next 10 working days.”

Earlier, Austria’s General Director for Public Security, Franz Ruf, said a 19-year-old Austrian citizen had been arrested on Wednesday morning in Ternitz in the province of Lower Austria.

He said a second arrest took place in Vienna in the afternoon but gave no further details about the suspect.

“According to the current status of the investigation, the two suspects became radicalised via the internet,” Mr Ruf said.

Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer said in a post on X that the cancellations would be a “bitter disappointment for all fans” but that the situation had been “very serious”.

“Thanks to the intensive cooperation of our police and [security agencies] with foreign services, the threat was recognized early, combated and a tragedy prevented.”

The head of police in Vienna, Gerhard Pürstl, said 65,000 people per day had been expected to attend the concerts, as well as 22,000 fans outside the venue.

“His aim was to kill himself and a large number of people during the concert, either today or tomorrow.”

The term “IS” often refers to the Islamic State, also known as ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) or ISIL (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant).

It is a militant group that originated from the remnants of Al-Qaeda in Iraq and gained prominence during the Syrian Civil War.