An Iraqi refugee suspected of preparing terrorist attacks on Germany's ICE high-speed trains that happened over the last six months has been detained in Austria, local media reported on Wednesday, citing German and Austrian law enforcement officers
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 27th March, 2019) An Iraqi refugee suspected of preparing terrorist attacks on Germany's ICE high-speed trains that happened over the last six months has been detained in Austria, local media reported on Wednesday, citing German and Austrian law enforcement officers.Policemen from the Austrian Office for the Protection of the Constitution and Counterterrorism carried out a raid on the suspect's apartment on Monday, the Kronen Zeitung newspaper said. The 42-year-old suspect, who has a refugee status in Austria and has been living there for more than two decades, was detained as a result of a joint investigation of the German and Austrian intelligence services, it noted.
The first terrorist attack was prepared in early October in Bavaria on the railroad between Nuremberg and Munich. It involved a thick cable that stretched across the rails between power transmission line poles. The second attack was prepared in February in Dortmund, where concrete and paving slabs were placed on railway tracks. In both cases, no one was injured, but trains did sustain material damage.
Investigators found the flag of the Islamic State terrorist group (IS, banned in Russia) and a letter in Arabic near where the first attack had taken place. The author of the letter threatened to continue attacks on European railroads as long as the European states fought against the IS.
The letter, as well as the printer used, brought the police to the suspect, a father of five who worked for a security company that provided services to supermarkets and football stadiums. According to the newspaper, the suspect had access to confidential information about vulnerable areas in football stadiums and shopping centers. The investigation also revealed that the suspect had previously served in the Iraqi army.
On his Facebook page, the suspect glorified radical Islamists, praised the IS terrorist attack in Nice and called on Muslims to take up arms in connection with the recent massacre in two mosques in New Zealand.
The involvement of the suspect in terrorist groups is currently being looked into.
