Austrian police arrested three young people, one of them aged 14, suspected of planning an attack on the LGBTQIA+ Pride March in Vienna that brought together thousands of people, official sources reported Sunday.
According to the head of the Austrian intelligence service Omar Haijawi-Pirchner, three youths aged 14, 17 and 20, suspected of supporting the jihadist organization Islamic State, were arrested before the start of the parade.
According to the official, there was “no threat” to those who took part in Saturday’s Pride March in the center of the Austrian capital.
“They shared extremist content on the internet. In this context, the suspects targeted the Pride March as a possible target,” the Interior Ministry said in a statement.
In Saturday’s arrests, authorities found weapons and other evidence against these three Austrians, of Chechen and Bosnian descent. The police knew one of them.
They planned to use “blank weapons or vehicles” during the celebration, police told reporters.
About 300,000 people took part in the parade for the rights of the LGBTQIA+ community.
An Islamic State sympathizer opened fire in central Vienna in November 2020, killing four people and injuring 23. It was the first jihadist attack in Austria.
Source: DN
