Maroc - EURASIAREVIEW.COM - A la une - 09/Aug 20:52

Austria Asks North Macedonia To Help Probe Taylor Swift Terror Threat

By Sinisa Jakov Marusic Austria has asked North Macedonia to check the background of a 19-year-old originating from North Macedonia who is one of two persons arrested on Wednesday suspected of planning a terrorist attack on the Vienna leg of Taylor Swift’s blockbuster Eras tour. North Macedonia’s Interior Ministry confirmed it had received a request “to check a person who is originally from Macedonia and who is suspected of a planned terrorist attack in Vienna”. “We are acting according to the submitted request”, the Interior Ministry said. In a move that devastated thousands of Swift’s fans, her tour organisers on Wednesday cancelled her three scheduled concerts in Vienna after authorities said they had foiled a terror attack planned to take place at or near the concert venue. Earlier today, Austrian Interior Ministry official Franz Ruf said investigators found chemical substances and technical devices at the 19-year-old’s house. The name of the man has not been revealed, but Ruf added that he had confessed to having pledged an oath of allegiance to the terror group Islamic State, IS. Meanwhile in North Macedonia, media, citing unnamed police sources, speculated that the Austrian citizen had roots in the town of Gostivar, in the country’s north-west. This is not the first time someone originating from North Macedonia has been linked to terrorist acts in the Austrian capital. In November 2020, it was revealed that one of the terrorist attackers who killed four people and left 20 injured in a bloody gun attack in Viennawas a citizen of North Macedonia. North Macedonia has been identified as a possible source of terrorism over the past decade. The country contains a mix of both Christian and Muslim communities; about a quarter of the population are Muslims, mostly ethnic Albanians. North Macedonia’s National Coordinative Body for Prevention of Violent Extremism and Fight Against Terrorism has counted more than 150 people from the country who participated in the fighting in Iraq and Syria. While some died there, others have since returned home.