Islamic State Claims Austria Terror Attack Killing Four
By Stefan J. Bos, Special Correspondent Worthy News
(Worthy News) – Austrian police detained 14 people in several raids Tuesday after an Islamist gunman shot and killed four people in Vienna.
The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the violence in the heart of Austria’s capital, which followed several anti-Christian attacks in this heavily Catholic nation.
Besides those killed, at least 22 people were wounded in Monday’s act of terrorism, according to authorities.
The suspect, armed with an automatic rifle and a fake explosive vest, shot dead the four victims before police killed him, authorities confirmed.
Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said the murdered victims were an older woman, an older man, a young male passer-by, and a waitress.
One of the women who died was German, Germany’s Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said in a statement condemning the attack.
DOUBLE CITIZEN
The slain gunman was named as Kujtim Fejzulai, 20, a joint Austrian and North Macedonian citizen sentenced to 22 months in detention for trying to join the Islamic State in Syria.
He had been released from prison early after showing improved behavior, authorities said.
The Islamic State described Fejzulai as a “soldier of the caliphate.” It named him by the nom de guerre Abu Dujana al-Albani.
Earlier, Islamist militant forums reportedly circulated an image they claimed to be of Fejzulai, showing a bearded man holding a large knife, a pistol, and a Kalashnikov-style rifle.
A pledge accompanied it to Islamic State leader Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurashi.
SYSTEM FAILED
Interior Minister Karl Nehammer said the attack, coming after Fejzulai’s early release from prison, pointed to “gaps” in the country’s deradicalization efforts. The suspect had “fooled” the system, he added.
Shots were first heard at 20:00 local time (19:00 GMT) on Monday night, opposite the main synagogue in the pedestrian alley Seitenstettengasse.
The shooting spree continued until the gunman was shot dead at 20:09, police said.
Austrian Interior Minister Karl Nehammer did not rule out a second attacker and urged residents to stay home.
Some witnesses spoke of seeing more than one gunman, and police were still assessing some 20,000 mobile phone videos of what happened.
ANTI-CHRISTIAN ATTACKS
Monday’s terrorism followed a series of recent attacks against churches and devoted Christians in Austria.
On Saturday, “a Catholic religious sister” was beaten on a bus allegedly by a 19-year-old Afghan, according to police in the Austrian state of Styria.
Catholic Church sources said the suspect attacked the 76-year old nun Saturday afternoon on a bus in the Austrian city of Graz.
The perpetrator hit the sister in the face and then fled before he was arrested, reported the Catholic News Agency (CNA).
Earlier, dozens of young people attacked a church in the Vienna-Favoriten area late Thursday, church sources said. Austrian media identified the perpetrators as a group of young Turks.
STORMING CHURCH
The attackers reportedly stormed into the parish church of St. Anton in Favoriten, shouting “ Allahu Akbar,” (“Allah is the Greatest”).
They were seen kicking pews and other furnishings in the church. The Archdiocese of Vienna condemned the attack and called for “quick clarification” and “consequences.”
The church’s deputy pastor gave the Vienna State Office for the Protection of the Constitution and Combating Terrorism video material, CNA reported. That material is currently being evaluated.
Another Afghan was detained over the weekend while shouting “Islamic slogans” in St. Stephen’s Cathedral, Vienna police confirmed to CNA.
“Churches in Vienna are now being monitored more closely as part of the patrol service,” CNA quoted police as saying.
UPHILL BATTLE
However, Monday’s shooting spree around the synagogue in Vienna underscored that police and army face an uphill battle to secure religious sites.
It came after several Islamic terror incidents in France.
The attacks included last month’s stabbing of three people at a church in Nice and the earlier separate beheading of a school teacher.
Muslim militants carried out the killings after the teacher showed to students Prophet Muhammad cartoons published by French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo.
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