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Austrian man charged over plot to attack Taylor Swift concert

An Austrian man has been charged with terrorism over a plot to attack a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna in August 2024.

The 21-year-old suspect, identified only as Beran A, stands accused of being a member of a terrorist organisation, making explosives and attempting to purchase weapons illegally.

The charges were announced on Monday by the Vienna prosecutor's office.

In a statement reported by the BBC, the young man is also reported to have been disseminating propaganda for the jihadist group Islamic State.

He was arrested after a tip-off from the CIA before Swift's concert. Three sold-out gigs by the US star singer at Vienna's Ernst Happel Stadium were promptly cancelled.

Three teenagers, including Beran A, were arrested in 2024.

According to the indictment, he had received online instructions and worked to make a shrapnel bomb using the explosive triacetone triperoxide (TATP).

The type of shrapnel bomb was "specific to IS attacks", the statement said.

He is also believed to have sought advice from IS members on how to carry out a bomb attack.

The US foreign intelligence service said back in 2024 that the plotters had hoped to kill a large number of concert-goers.

Investigators alleged Beran A had also planned to carry out an earlier attack in Dubai in March 2024.

Reports at the time suggested it was part of a coordinated plot involving three simultaneous IS attacks, but he had changed his mind at the last minute.

In a post on social media two years ago, Swift described the cancellation of her Vienna tour dates as "devastating".

"But I was also so grateful to the authorities because thanks to them, we were grieving concerts and not lives," she added.

Last year, a 16-year-old Syrian national, identified as Mohamed A, was given an 18-month suspended sentence by a court in Germany over the attack.

Beran A faces up to 20 years in jail if convicted.

Photo: Music-News
Source: Cover Media
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