In a forest near Sieghartskirchen (Tulln district) in Lower Austria, excavations are underway again this week for a possible weapons cache of the radical Islamist terrorist group “Islamic State Khorasan Province” (ISPK). The excavations are related to the suspected attack plans against St. Stephen’s Cathedral before Christmas.
Alleged plans to attack St. Stephen’s Cathedral and Cologne Cathedral before Christmas led to the arrest of several terror suspects in Vienna and Germany. A 30-year-old Tajik last registered in Germany, a fellow countryman two years younger, and his 27-year-old wife, originally from Turkey, are in custody at the Vienna-Josefstadt prison.
Seven suspects in total
The Public Prosecution Service is investigating a total of seven suspects from terrorist organizations (§278b StGB) in connection with terrorist crimes (§278c StGB). The apartment of the Tajik-Turkish couple, who have lived in Vienna-Ottakring since 2022, is said to have played an important role in the ‘network formation’ of the alleged terrorist cell.
Called to “fight” on TikTok
Apparently a confidant of a radical preacher often stayed there, who called for a “fight against the unbelievers” via Telegram and TikTok. The apartment in Ottakring is also said to have served as a place of residence for the 30-year-old Tajik when he stopped in Vienna. The man, who was arrested on December 24 in Wesel on the Lower Rhine on the basis of a European arrest warrant and subsequently extradited to the Viennese judiciary, has long been the focus of the German Office for the Protection of the Constitution. He was observed filming St. Stephen’s Cathedral in a manner unusual for tourists, checking on surveillance cameras and checking the walls.
Others suspected of being involved in Istanbul
From Vienna, the 30-year-old also flew for a few days to Istanbul, where other participants in the terror cell are suspected, returned to Vienna on December 18 and on December 19 took photos and video recordings of the Prater – possibly another potential target of the ISKP cell.
Source: Krone
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