The terrorist attack in Vienna did not come out of nowhere

News of the background and circumstances of the terrorist attack in Vienna is slowly leaking out, and the details come as no surprise to those who have followed the events of the terrorist attacks in Europe in recent years. He has 20 years Kujtim Fejzulai his life story is not very different from that of the perpetrators in Britain, France or Germany who have carried out terrorist acts. The Austrian-Macedonian man from the north is young, the son of immigrants, poorly educated and radicalized under the influence of the Islamic State.

Fejzula’s story is also in line with the trend that emerged in 2017 among European extremists. Thereafter, attempts to join or travel to a terrorist organization around the world became punishable. We see terrorist attacks in Europe perpetrated by those who have failed to reach the Islamic State and are devoting their energies to commit murder at home.

The Macedonian press has already spoken with the perpetrator’s grandfather, who said his grandson and parents visited his hometown near Tetovo every year, where they also had their own home. The young man, as usual, was known to all as a kind and friendly man, although the Macedonian authorities found a smaller arsenal of weapons there during the search of the house. This may explain where the man may have obtained the Zastava M70 submachine gun and pistol, manufactured by the former Yugoslav military industry, of which a significant amount was destined for organized criminal groups during the crises in Kosovo and Albania.

The mode of perpetration and targeting are also known from the terrorist attacks of the last decade: a single assassination attack against civilians in a symbolic location (a synagogue in central Vienna) where the assassination finally lasts until the perpetrator go dead.

A narrow circle, one of the most radical groups in the Muslim community in Austria, played a role in the radicalization of Fejul. The mosque in Vienna’s Ottakring district housed two of the most infamous members of the Austrian jihadist “community”: Lorenz K., of Albanian descent, who had previously wanted a 12-year-old to commit suicide and blow himself up. a tube station at West Station. He was sentenced to eight years in 2018 and has since refused to participate in de-radicalization programs, and has tried to stage another terrorist attack from his cell phone with smuggled phones. A visitor to the Ottakring mosque was one of the “godfathers” of the Austrian jihadists, Mohamed Mahmud it is. His father came to the country from Egypt as an Islamist political refugee, already born in Vienna in 1985. He wanted to join al-Qaeda in the 2000s and was closed for the first time in Austria for his support. After his release, he moved to Berlin, where he founded one of the most militant Islamist organizations. In 2012, he was deported by the German authorities, returned to Egypt, from where he traveled to Syria from 2013 to 2014, joined the Islamic State and participated in public executions until he was killed by an American airstrike.

Lone wolves

Analysts describe actions similar to the terrorist attack in Vienna as “lone wolf” terrorism, distinguishing them from those committed in cells or as part of more complex organizations. This, of course, does not mean that Fezulai had no supporters and interrupted him on a trip to Syria with a friend. The authorities keep 15 people in preventive detention, eight of whom have already been imprisoned (four for terrorism, two for acts of violence, two for attempted honor killing). They all have a migration background, are between 16 and 28 years old, and are known in local radical Islamist circles, including the police.

While it’s easy to be smart in hindsight when looking at the Austrian and EU statements, it soon becomes clear that jihadist radicalization in Austria began in 2013 after the outbreak of the Syrian civil war. The authorities were also aware of the deteriorating trends, as they provided the data for international returns.

In addition to finding the perpetrator’s associates and contacts, the responsibility and preparedness of the authorities are of course also examined. We already know that the Slovak authorities pointed out to Austrians in the summer of 2020 that they wanted to buy ammunition in Bratislava, but the information did not reach the right place.

Prosecuting, apprehending and convicting terrorists is a complex multi-stakeholder process that, furthermore, does not end with the closing of the prison cell door. Attention must also cover how the convicted person behaves in prison and also after his release. And since the number of terrorists has risen sharply in Europe over the past two decades, but especially since the rise of the Islamic State, this is depleting the capacity of the authorities. The Austrians have done a good job so far, as evidenced by the fact that there has been no successful terrorist attack in Austria in recent years, but the number of people arrested and convicted on terrorism charges has increased. The press was informed that

In Austria, 43 people were arrested last year on suspicion of jihadist terrorism, more than in Germany, which has more than eight times the population of 32.

In 2013, there were no extremists convicted of jihadist terrorism in Austrian prisons, but in 2019, 32 had already served their prison terms and another 20 were in pre-trial detention awaiting trial. In preparation for the terrorist attacks, he came out in favor of those convicted who were imprisoned for wanting to join the Islamic State, others for supporting it with money, others for their propaganda activities, extreme incitement. Authorities have thwarted at least three terrorist attacks in recent years, one against the Vienna subway and another against last year’s Christmas market.

Until now, in addition to official efforts and luck, Austria has been protected from terrorist acts by being considered second-class in the German-speaking jihadist community.

300 went from Austria to Syria

The country is home to two significant Muslim minorities, one in the Balkans (mainly Albanians and Bosnians) and the other in Chechnya. The former arrived first as a Yugoslav guest worker (in the 1970s) and then as a war refugee (in the 1990s), the second after the Chechnya civil war of 1999. Until now, extremists from both communities in Austria were more of a haven from which to organize their national goals. The Chechen jihadists rested, agitated, organized in Vienna.

In analyzing the statistics, we have already indicated that the emergence of the Islamic State has taken a decisive turn. Albanians, Bosnians and Chechens left for Syria. An estimated three hundred have reached the Middle East, some of them family members. By 2019, an estimated fifty Austrian extremists have been killed in the fighting, nothing can be known about the fate of 150 today, the others have returned home.

In recent weeks there have been four jihadist terrorist attacks, in addition to the shootings in Vienna, near Paris, and the beheadings in Nice, in a Dresden where a gay party was delayed by one extreme. The perpetrators of three came to the country as refugees. Of the four terrorist attacks, only one was carried out by the Islamic State, although the other three also had a clear jihadist motivation. The lesson from this is, on the one hand, that while refugee protection remains important, further tightening of controls and detection is needed. On the other hand, it is also worth noting that none of the perpetrators were members of the Islamic State, the terrorist organization only played a kind of motivating role. It also shows that the Islamic State has not disappeared since its defeat, only recently in Europe has it received less attention until the current cartoon scandal that led to beheadings in France.

Europol statistics from recent years also confirm that the terrorist threat posed by jihadists has not passed: in 2019, the authorities prevented fourteen out of twenty-one incidents, and in 2018, twenty-four. This trend is likely in the short term, with the addition that it will be similar to the controversy surrounding the case of the Mohamed cartoons that unleashed the current wave of terror.

It is also expected that in Europe more attention will be paid to de-radicalization programs and their effectiveness. Kujtim Fejzulai is not the first to commit a terrorist attack after exemplary training, so this phenomenon is not new to the authorities either, but based on some wrong decisions, these programs should not be stopped. They are also successful in Denmark and the Netherlands, but the more convicted, the greater the need for resources and the potential for error.

It is also possible to prepare for the fact that the Islamic State, although it has lost its territories, will remain powerful as a classic illegal terrorist organization. On the one hand, in the online space, he tries to inspire tens and hundreds of thousands of people to radicalize and commit terrorist attacks, on the other hand, he looks for opportunities to set foot in newer areas. In recent years, jihadists have become the new target of the former Portuguese colony of Mozambique in East Africa, where previously only extremists were seen on television and the authorities were unprepared for their appearance. The local Islamic State organization has thrown the country’s northern province into chaos, targeting not only local security forces, but also the Russian Wagner group of formal reputation deployed as mercenaries.

Featured Image: Thomas Kronsteiner / Getty Images