
The 19-year-old jihadist who was arrested on Wednesday in Austria on charges of preparing a terrorist attack at one of the three concerts that Taylor Swift would play in the country today, tomorrow and Saturday is from North Macedonia.
According to the Puls24 website, the 19-year-old's family had moved from Vienna to the town of Ternitz, where the arrest was made. According to the same source, the 19-year-old's family has Austrian citizenship, but they originate from North Macedonia and have roots in Albania. As noted, in fact, the jihadist who carried out a terrorist attack in Vienna on November 2, 2020, was originally from North Macedonia, resulting in four deaths and 23 injuries. According to information, the 19-year-old may have recently been influenced by his extremist neighbors, where suddenly one day he appeared with a beard like the Taliban.
According to the same testimonies, they also saw a woman wearing a burqa in the 19-year-old's apartment.
Austrian media also reported that the 19-year-old worked in a laboratory and was suspected of stealing chemicals that could be used to make explosives. Such chemicals were found in the 19-year-old's home and are being examined. In addition to the 19-year-old, Austrian authorities, who, according to Bild, were tipped off about the planned hit by a foreign secret service, arrested two 17-year-olds as suspects in the same planned attack.
However, the Austrian media Kurier reports that for the same case, two more people are being sought and therefore it has been decided to cancel all Swift's concerts in Austria. The German paper also reports that another country's secret service had found a video of one of the suspects in which he declared his allegiance to the Islamic State, like those that usually follow a terrorist attack as evidence of ISIS claiming responsibility.