The police in Vienna are alerting the residents of a possible “Islamic-motivated attack” on Christian churches and other houses of worship. As part of a “precautionary measure,” the police shared that there has been an increased presence of police personnel as a result of “undisclosed information” received by the intelligence service of the country regarding the terror attack. The targeted locations have not been disclosed by the authorities. A number of Islamic-motivated terror attacks have taken place in Austria since 2017. In 2020, a terror attack took place near a synagogue which caused the death of four people and wounded 17 others. The police have pointed out that targets of the attack not only include churches but also other houses of worship.
Christian Today reports:
(CP) Police in Vienna are warning the public of a threat of an Islamist attack on churches and other places of worship.
In what authorities called a “precautionary measure,” police announced Wednesday an increased police presence in response to what authorities described as “undisclosed information the country’s intelligence service had received.”
The agency tweeted, “intelligence services have reason to believe that an assault with an islamistic (sic) motive is planned to be carried out in Vienna” and that “as [a] precautionary measure…points of interest have been put under increased guard by regular & special operation police forces.”
Authorities did not disclose the location of specific targets.
It was unclear how long the increased police presence would remain in place, with police saying only that “at this moment, we cannot [foresee] the duration of those measures.”
Hours after the initial announcement, police clarified the threat does not “exclusively” target Christian churches but “also houses of worship of various confessions” and that the security measure would remain in place “until further notice.”
Since 2017, a number of Islamic terror attacks have rocked Austria, where an estimated 8% of the population — or approximately 720,000 people — are practicing Muslims, according to the latest data.
In November 2020, an Islamic State sympathizer carried out a terror attack near an Austrian synagogue in which four people were killed and 17 others were wounded.
Read the full article here.
About Post Author
