Vienna, 8 August 2024 (MIA) – All three concerts by the U.S. pop star Taylor Swift in Vienna were cancelled after police arrested two men suspected of planning terror attacks. Austrian media reported that a man, 19, hailed from North Macedonia. Police are searching for three other suspects. 

Franz Ruf, the public security director at Austria’s interior ministry, described the 19-year-old arrested in Terniz as “immediate main perpetrator” adding that the second man arrested was 17 years old, reported the Austrian news agency APA.

Several chemical substances and technical devices were seized during a house search yesterday. According to Ruf, the main suspect pledged an oath of allegiance to the Islamic State group a few weeks ago, who is believed to have been radicalized on the internet.

“The two men arrested were born in Austria, the parents of the 19-year-old have roots in North Macedonia and the mother of the 17-year-old is Austrian, said Ruf. 

The arrests, he noted, minimized the threat by this small group and the cancellation of the Taylor Swift concerts was a decision and a responsibility of the organizers. 

The Austrian public security official confirms the police were tipped off by foreign intelligence services before an investigation was launched in combination with intel of the Austrian security services. 

The second arrest, according to Austrian media, was made on Wednesday afternoon in Vienna, but information on the suspect is yet to be shared. 

The main motive of the man suspected of terrorism was to kill as many concertgoers as possible at one of the Taylor Swift’s concerts, reported Austria’s Kronen Zeitung. 

“Evidently, the 19-year-old man wanted to make an explosive which is why he took chemicals from work,” the daily reported adding that he had root from North Macedonia. 

Concertgoers, not Taylor Swift herself, were the target, a source from the investigation told the newspaper. The terror suspect most probably planned to set off an explosive device to cause considerable damage, according to the newspaper. 

Photo: APA printscreen