POLICE FOIL ATTACK ON VIENNA’S PRIDE PARADE WITH THREE ARRESTS, INCLUDING A 14-YEAR-OLD

Mon 19 June 2023:

Austrian authorities said Sunday they had foiled a possible attack on Vienna’s Pride parade by three young men who allegedly sympathised with the extremist Islamic State group.

The parade took place in the city on Saturday with some 300,000 people in attendance. The suspects are aged between 14 and 20 years old, all of them Austrian citizens. While they have not been officially named, it was revealed the trio had Bosnian and Chechen family origins.

The planned attack was apparently motivated by Islamist sentiments, early investigation results indicate. Austria’s domestic intelligence chief, Omar Haijawi-Pirchner, revealed the three suspects were sympathizers of Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) group.

According to Haijawi-Pirchner, the three suspects, whose identities have not been fully revealed, are Austrian citizens of Bosnian and Chechen origin, had radicalised online and sympathised with the Islamic State group.

“Through the successful and also timely intervention, we managed to defuse the moment of danger for Vienna Pride and to ensure the safety of all participants,” he said.

The spy boss did not reveal the exact nature of the would-be attack that was foiled, stating only that the suspects were found in possession of items banned under Austria’s weapons laws.

The organiser of the Pride parade was only informed about the events on Sunday. The organisers did not want to create panic among the participants, especially since the police raid had already taken place, according to ORF.