The Vienna Marathon in April this year was the target of a terrorist attack modeled on the Boston Marathon bombing in 2013, but the terrorist cell in Austria was discovered in time, claims the "Kronen Zeitung" newspaper.
Austria's Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution and the Fight against Terrorism has uncovered an alleged Islamic State (IS) cell in Austria linked to plans to attack major events in Europe.
Citing unnamed sources, the paper cites the previously known details of the alleged so-called terrorist operation Treatment, which was planned by members of the alleged cell in Austria.
It was an IS operation to avenge the death of its leader Abu Ibrahim Al Hashimi, who was killed by American special forces in February of this year in his shelter in northwestern Syria, according to "Kronen Zeitung".
According to the paper, there were five Iraqis in this group, and the leader was an Iraqi who had a protected status and who came to Austria during the migrant crisis in 2015. Modeled after the Boston massacre, where two bombs killed three and injured around 300 people, this cell intended to plant a bomb at the finish line of the Vienna Marathon, which took place on April 24.
Austrian authorities stepped up measures following events in November 2020, when an Austrian of Albanian origin carried out a terrorist attack in Vienna, killing four people and injuring more than 20 others.
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