Terrorist attack in Vienna: report accuses authorities of negligence



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In early November, a suspected Islamist killed four people and injured many others in Vienna. A commission of inquiry has now criticized the authorities in a first report: for lack of communication and lack of consequences.

An investigative report on the Islamist attack in Vienna on November 2 revealed serious flaws on the part of the Austrian security authorities. Authorities missed several opportunities to recognize and respond to the threat posed by the later killer, according to a first report from a government investigation.

As the Austrian newspaper “Der Standard” writes, referring to the report, it is particularly critical of constitutional protection actions. Regarding the risk assessment of the subsequent attacker and the measures taken, communication within the authority was inadequate. After the young Islamist was released from prison in December 2019, it also took until October to complete a risk assessment. As a result, the 20-year-old from North Macedonia took a “high risk”.

Communication difficulties were repeated in the investigation that is now being carried out: “Some of the inquiries in this regard remained unanswered, some of the statements made by the different departments contradicted them, and some of the commission were not presented with any valid documents” , quotes “Der Standard” from the report.

Four dead, 14 injured

The killer opened fire in a lively Vienna district in early November. He killed four people and wounded more than 20 before the police shot him. The SI claimed the act for himself. The young man had been sentenced to the previous prison sentence for trying to travel to Syria to fight on the side of ISIS.

However, he did not have to serve the full 22-month sentence. In early December 2019, he was released early from prison after apparently faking a successful participation in a de-radicalization program. It has now emerged that the Heeresnachrichtenamt (HNA) army in February 2020 explicitly warned against the subsequent killer again because he had contact with an IS member who was probably in Turkey, writes “Der Standard.”

The report’s authors described the fact that it had been almost ten months before the assessment of the risk of becoming an Islamist was “unacceptable.” The threat posed by the man became apparent again in July when he met well-known German and Swiss Islamists. Furthermore, the German authorities had informed Austria of the danger posed by the 20-year-old. According to the report, the Vienna State Office for the Protection of the Constitution and the Fight Against Terrorism (LVT) blamed a lack of resources and overwork for the delay.

He had several opportunities to prevent the attack.

According to the report, an LVT employee had tried to warn that the 20-year-old’s participation in Islamist meetings proves the existence of a “highly dangerous terrorist cell.” However, colleagues from the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution and the Fight Against Terrorism (BVT) had told him to keep quiet. The BVT rejects this accusation.

According to the report, the Austrian authorities missed another opportunity to prevent the attack in July when the Slovak authorities informed them that the subsequent attacker had tried to buy ammunition. Subsequently, the BVT received surveillance camera recordings from July 27, which were only sent to LVT Vienna just under a month later.

At the end of January, the committee intends to present a more detailed report. Austria’s Director General for Internal Security Franz Ruf announced that the results of the investigation will be incorporated into current reforms of the security authorities. Austrian Conservative Chancellor Sebastian Kurz announced after the attack in Vienna that he would take decisive action against “political Islam”.


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