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Islamist terror is back in Europe. Or never left? One thing is certain: for the first time in years, a supporter of the Islamic State (IS) managed to carry out a fully automatic weapons attack that had apparently been planned for a long time. The sad result of Monday’s attack in Vienna: four dead, 23 injured.
Kujtim F. * († 20), a convicted jihadist, acted only on the night of the attack. However, there are many indications that he was part of an international network of Islamists, a network of young men that extends to Switzerland.
Winterthur were “colleagues” of the killer
Less than 24 hours after the first shots were fired in Vienna’s old town, investigators from the EG Diamant special unit attacked in the Grüzefeld district of Winterthur. They arrested two Salafists, aged 18 and 24, both involved in ongoing Islamist trials.
Did you know about the fact? Or were they even involved? So far there are no concrete indications in this regard. What is certain, however, is that the two met the IS terrorist in Vienna. Federal Councilor Karin Keller-Sutter said this Tuesday. They were both “colleagues” of the killer.
Now SonntagsBlick’s investigation shows: The arrested Winterthur traveled to Vienna only a few months before the attack. According to information from security circles, they met there between July 16 and 20 with more than a dozen Islamists from Germany and Austria, including Kujtim F., Monday’s murderer. At that time, Kujtim F. was trying to get ammunition in Slovakia.
Two Germans, Two Swiss, and the Killer of Kujtim
It is said that the meeting of the men, almost all of them with roots in Balkan countries, took place in a park in Vienna. The core of the group, two Germans, both Swiss and the later assassin Kujtim F. then went to his apartment. What the five did not know: Austrian security authorities observed the meeting. Shortly before, they had received a tip from their German colleagues.
Pretrial detention has now been requested for the residents of Winterthur. In the coming days, the terrorist process will be assumed by the Federal Prosecutor’s Office. Spokesperson Linda von Burg confirms: “The Federal Prosecutor’s Office will implement the transfer of the case next week to the Public Ministry of the Canton of Zurich.” First, you need to clarify the “timing issues” and coordination.
Federal investigators must now verify whether the two people arrested were involved in the attack plans. It is still possible that the people of Winterthur knew the murderer but did not know anything about the impending crime.
Traces lead to militant Viennese preacher
It is indisputable that the two young men belong to the core of the radical Islamist scene. It is also clear that both were investigated for violating Islamic State law before the attack.
But where do the threads of the three-country network meet?
The first vestiges lead to the militant Viennese preacher Ebu Tejma, in whose environment the murderer could have become radicalized. Over the years, Tejma recruited dozens of Islamic State fighters in Syria. He was arrested in 2014 and later sentenced to 20 years in prison. But his network continued to function.
Tejma had many international contacts. One of his closest confidants was Sandro V. * (34), who became known as the “Emir of Winterthur”. He is said to have turned Eulachstadt into a haven for extremists and traveled to Syria himself. The Bellinzona Federal Criminal Court recently sentenced him to 50 months in prison. Sandro V. said of Tejma: “For me, he is a sheikh”, a spiritual leader.
Assassin had support in preparation
Sandro V. was in and out of the now closed An’Nur Mosque, as did the arrested Winterthur’s elder, a convert with a Swiss passport.
It is becoming clearer every day that the Viennese terrorist’s network was significantly larger than initially assumed. And that he could count on helpers in his preparations for the attack.
There are currently eight people detained in Austria. Men between the ages of 16 and 24 are suspected of having supported the killer. In all cases, according to the prosecutor, there is a risk of flight, fainting and committing a crime.
Is Europe threatening a new wave of attacks?
SonntagsBlick has an internal list of suspects’ names. Among them are jihadists who, like the assassin Kujtim F., tried to join the terrorist militia of the IS in Syria.
One question remains: is Europe threatened with a new wave of attacks? Even if Islamist terror took a back seat with the fall of the Islamic State caliphate, it never disappeared. The calm was deceptive.
It is true that European countries have not been rocked by serious attacks like those in Brussels, Paris or Berlin since 2017. But there were numerous smaller improvised attacks, for example with kitchen knives.
The Vienna terror now reminds us that Islamist groups like ISIS can carry out coordinated attacks in Europe with firearms even after its territorial collapse. It is no coincidence that the secret services continue to warn about organized cells that are planning complex attacks.
