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Terrorists aimed to kill “as many people as possible” using homemade explosives and knives at a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna earlier this month, CIA Deputy Director David Cohen has said, adding that the US spy agency warned the Austrian authorities about the impending attack.
According to Cohen, the attackers, who are said to have been connected with Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS), “were plotting to kill a huge number – tens of thousands of people, including, I am sure, many Americans – and were quite advanced in this.”
He noted that Austrian security forces were able to arrest the suspects because the CIA and “our partners in the intelligence community provided them information about what this ISIS-connected group was planning to do.”
“I can tell you within my agency, and I’m sure in others, there were people who thought that was a really good day for Langley, and not just the Swifties in my workforce,” he said, speaking at an intelligence summit outside Washington D.C.
The plotters reportedly planned to attack one of three Swift concerts in Vienna, which were set to begin on August 8 as part of the European leg of her Eras Tour. However, the shows were canceled by the event organizers, Barracuda Music, after the authorities informed them of the foiled plot.
The main suspect in the alleged plot was taken into custody on August 6, along with a 17-year-old accomplice, according to Austrian officials. On August 8, another suspect, 18, was also detained.
The authorities said the unnamed mastermind behind the attack, reported to be 19 years old, had pledged allegiance to IS after being self-radicalized online.
The attack was supposedly set to take place outside the stadium where as many as 65,000 people were expected to attend the show. The terrorists are said to have been planning to carry out the attack using knives as well as a homemade explosive device, police said after reportedly finding chemical substances and special technical devices at the home of the 19-year-old.
The main suspect is also said to have confessed to planning to “kill as many people as possible outside the concert,” according to Austrian officials.