Frag Out! Magazine
Issue link: https://fragout.uberflip.com/i/1333129
to it, just like the others. Despite no attack catching media attention had taken place before, the activities of the Islamic extrem- ist networks in Austria were quite intense. Nonetheless, it was limited to gathering funds and recruitment of volunteers willing to fight in other countries. Back in the 1990s - the country was Bosnia. Recently its place has been taken by Iraq and Syria. 300 Austrian passport own- ers left for Syria in total. Others have been making attempts to go there. Some violent acts have also been happening over recent years, with the most dangerous one involv- ing a knife. Some more sophisticated attack plans have been stopped be- fore they had a chance to happen. Some plans involved explosives as well. The circumstances of the attack clearly show that the terrorist was motivated, determined and that the act was not an accident. The terror- ist managed to conditionally leave the prison, probably pretending to cooperate throughout the deradical- ization process. He also managed to procure firearms, using his connec- tions to the black market. He also selected the location that he knew well, taking great care of the time. The attacker, most probably, was expecting the place to be crowded. He did not create an explosive de- vice, building a mock-up instead, to make sure that the Police would use firearms to kill him. Similarities to the events that took place in Boston, Paris, London, or Brussels, are striking, to say the least. The fact that the terrorist was trying to leave the country is frequently mentioned in commen- taries or analytical materials. It is not decisive, however, if one was to assume that a new trend is emerg- ing. The attacker was unable to reach Syria, where he could die as a martyr. He became a martyr in his hometown instead. Similarly as in the case of other events, after the attack took place it turned out that the attacker had been known to the Police and in- telligence services. It also turned out that BVT (Bundesamt für Ver- fassungsschutz und Terrorismus- bekämpfung) service in Austria had prior received the information provided by the Slovak Police, that Feyzullah was trying to buy ammu- nition in Slovakia. Maybe, had the investigation been launched back then, the Austrian Police could have succeeded in preventing the attack. And again, it often happened in the past that the perpetrators had a file maintained in the Police archives. The services did receive some sig- nals suggesting that the terrorists in question could be readying an at- tack. www.fragoutmag.com