The CIA have reported that the terrorists who planned to attack the Taylor Swift Vienna gigs were aiming to kill “tens of thousands” of fans.
Earlier this month, all three of the pop star’s ‘Eras Tour’ shows in Vienna were cancelled after it was revealed that two people had been arrested for allegedly plotting a terror attack during the gigs. In relation to the terror plot on the Vienna shows, a 19-year-old main suspect was arrested in Ternitz, south of Vienna, and a second person in the Austrian capital. It was widely reported that the former had pledged an oath of allegiance to the Islamic State group.
Read more…
Source: NME News
Sign up for Counter-IED Report Newsletter
Related:
- Dakar rally car blast caused by improvised explosive device
February 11, 2022
French investigators probing an explosion that badly wounded a driver at the Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia have concluded an improvised explosive device caused it, a source close to the investigation revealed on Friday. Investigators from France’s specialized anti-terror prosecutor’s office visited the country after the blast and analyzed the damaged car alongside police and domestic ...
- Somalia: Several killed in attack targeting election delegates in Mogadishu
February 10, 2022
A suicide bomber targeting a minibus full of delegates involved in Somalia’s parliamentary elections killed at least six people in Mogadishu, the ambulance service said, as the al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabab armed group claimed responsibility for the attack. The blast occurred early on Thursday as the vehicle was passing a busy junction on a road heading to the ...
- Kenya: Four killed in IED attack in Garissa
February 10, 2022
Four people have been killed in an IED attack in Sangailu, Holugho sub-county in Garissa county on Thursday morning. The group was travelling from Masalani to Holugho when the incident happened. The driver of the vehicle narrowly escaped death and is fighting for his life in hospital. The four were family members. Read more… Source: The Star
- Vermont State Police Bomb Squad disposes of degraded dynamite in Georgia
February 8, 2022
The Vermont State Police Bomb Squad removed 30 sticks of nitroglycerin-based dynamite from a home in Georgia on Tuesday. The team was called to safely remove the legally owned and licensed explosives at a property on Oakland Station Road with a controlled burn. A routine inspection found degraded explosives that required professional disposal for the safety of ...
- California: Massive X-Ray Machines to Screen Vehicles at SoFi Stadium in Preparation for the Super Bowl
February 3, 2022
Hundreds of trucks will be going into Sofi Stadium over the next several days and they have to be checked out for anything dangerous that might be inside them. U.S. Customs and Border Protection says they have the unique skills and equipment to do just that. It’s like an airport screening but with much bigger things. Authorities ...
- Alberta: Police find bomb, guns, stolen first-responder uniforms after standoff at Edmonton home
February 3, 2022
Police say they found stolen first responder uniforms, high-calibre firearms and a homemade bomb at a home in southeast Edmonton after a standoff last weekend. It started early Saturday in the Jackson Heights neighbourhood in Mill Woods. Just before 4 a.m., Edmonton police said officers spotted three men loading suspicious items into a taxi at a home ...
- Northern Ireland: Police confirm loud bang in Lurgan was pipe bomb after device remnants discovered
January 31, 2022
At around 9.25pm, it was reported that a loud bang was heard in the area, and the bathroom window of a property had been smashed. Inspector Conway said: “Following a number of proactive searches carried out last night and today (Monday), what is believed to be a detonated pipe bomb was located. “A number of homes in ...
- UK: Manchester Arena security continually reviewed after bomb, inquiry hears
January 10, 2022
Security improvements have been made at Manchester Arena since the terror attack nearly five years ago and are “continually reviewed”, a public inquiry has heard. Arena operators SMG and security firm Showsec were criticised in the first report published by the inquiry. It said bomber Salman Abedi should have been identified as a threat. Read more… Source: BBC News
- Irish bomb disposal experts travel to Qatar to help preparations for the 2022 World Cup
November 22, 2021
Irish bomb disposal experts have travelled to Qatar to help local forces prepare for security operations at the 2022 World Cup. Three operators from the Explosive Ordnance Disposal team went to the middle eastern state for Exercise Watan – which involved international experts from across the globe. The State of Qatar requested Irish Defence Forces EOD operators ...
- Manchester Arena Inquiry: Bomber ‘should have been identified as a threat’
June 17, 2021
Manchester Arena suicide bomber Salman Abedi should have been identified as a threat on the night of the atrocity by those in charge of security, a public inquiry into the 2017 attack has found. Inquiry chairman Sir John Saunders found there were missed opportunities to prevent the “devastating impact”. He said it was likely Abedi would have ...
- Rome: IED Discovered, Destroyed In Front of Stadio Olimpico Ahead of 2020 Euro Game
June 16, 2021
The homemade bomb was allegedly reported as a suspicious-looking package on a car in the Prati area, just a couple of miles from the stadium. According to Italian news outlet Il Messaggero, it was a “machine with some suspicious threads” coming from the top of it. Il Messaggero reported the bomb was a cylinder filled with ...
- New Jersey: Law enforcement K-9 training event held at MetLife Stadium
April 29, 2021
A law enforcement K-9 training event took place on Wednesday at MetLife Stadium. The Regional Explosives Detection Dog Initiative event was hosted by the New Jersey State Police and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The training featured odor recognition trials, operationally relevant scenarios and instruction on explosives, with a focus on domestic threats. Read more… Source: News12BX
- Counter-terror training may be enforced for some UK venues
February 26, 2021
The UK government has launched a consultation to develop plans to make it a legal requirement for public places to improve security measures following a campaign by the mother of a Manchester Arena attack victim. The 18-week long consultation into the Protect Duty, which begins on Friday, will work with counter-terror police and seek contributions over ...
- Manchester Arena inquiry: Live exercise before bombing was ‘catastrophic failure’
February 24, 2021
A live counter-terrorism exercise a year before the Manchester Arena bombing was a “catastrophic failure” and would have led to even more loss of life had it been real, the inquiry has heard. Firefighters and paramedics did not turn up for more than two hours after the police failed to call them forward during the 2016 ...
- UK: Manchester response ‘not as expected’, counter-terror boss says
February 4, 2021
A counter-terror chief has expressed confusion over why police would declare a marauding terrorist firearms attack and not tell other emergency services, the Manchester Arena inquiry has heard. Operation Plato was declared by a duty officer from Greater Manchester Police some 16 minutes after the 2017 bomb. The inquiry has heard how the force did not initially ...
- Manchester Arena Inquiry: Review ‘reshaped UK counter-terrorism teams’
December 1, 2020
“Fast-time learning” from the attack on Manchester Arena led to several changes in how UK counter-terrorism teams work, the inquiry into the bombing has heard. The inquiry into the attack of 22 May 2017, which killed 22 people, was told senior officers reviewed what happened five days later to learn from it. Their 21 recommendations had mostly ...
- Afghanistan: ‘Appalling cost’ of conflict revealed as 26,000 children killed or wounded since 2005
November 23, 2020
More than 26,000 children have been killed or injured in Afghanistan since 2005 – an average of five youngsters every day, a charity has found. Save The Children said the statistics highlight the “appalling cost of the decades-long conflict on children” in the country. The charity warned Afghanistan is “one of the most dangerous countries for children ...
- Manchester Arena bombing inquiry hears man ‘fobbed off’ by security when he warned about suicide attacker
September 7, 2020
Manchester Arena bomber Salman Abedi was challenged by a member of the public shortly before he detonated the bomb that killed 22 people at an Ariana Grande concert three years ago. The details of the confrontation emerged as a public inquiry into the atrocity began in Manchester. The concertgoer, who can be named only as witness A, ...
- Australia: Undetonated commercial explosives found by tourists in bushland near Norseman, WA
July 15, 2020
Trekking down a tourist trail 20 kilometres outside Norseman, in Western Australia’s Goldfields region, a couple were shocked to find explosives scattered around the area where they had stopped for lunch. The couple alerted Shire of Dundas CEO, Peter Fitchat, who went to investigate the scene. There he found around six undetonated plastic explosives scattered on the ...
- Spain: Lone wolf terror suspect planned to bomb Barcelona-Real Madrid football match using explosive-laden drone
May 20, 2020
A suspected ‘lone wolf’ terrorist had even plotting to bomb a Barcelona versus Real Madrid match using a drone. This is the claim of Spanish police, who say his plans were scuppered by the coronavirus lockdown. Instead he started wandering the streets of Barcelona, reporting back to his ‘controller’ in Syria The shadow ISIS figure urged ...
- UK: Brother of Manchester Arena bomber guilty of 22 counts of murder
March 17, 2020
Hashem Abedi denied involvement, but his DNA and fingerprints were found at the flat where the explosives were made. The brother of the Manchester Arena bomber has been found guilty of 22 charges of murder. Hashem Abedi, 22, conspired with his brother Salman Abedi, who killed himself and 22 others when he detonated a bomb at an ...
- Super Bowl security shows the easy-going 1960s are long gone
January 29, 2020
Ensuring the safety of fans and players at this year’s Super Bowl in Miami entails an extraordinary deployment of law enforcement assets, even by recent standards, in keeping with heightened global tensions and fears of home-grown violence. The show of force stands in stark contrast from the relatively easy-going atmosphere that prevailed in the late ...