It has been reported that, just days before the deadly terrorist attack in Vienna by an Islamist militant that killed five people, a group of teens as big as 30 or 50 stormed through a church in the city shouting Islamic slogans.
The group is reported to have shouted 'Allahu Akbar', 'God is Great' in Arabic, and kicked over chairs and religious objects. They were said to be of Turkish descent and spoke both Turkish and German during the incident. A priest phoned the police but the attackers fled before they arrived.
The regional department of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution and Counterterrorism says a local Islamist group operating in the area was behind the attack which was clearly organised well beforehand.
Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said of the incident:
"All Christians must have a right to freely and safely practice their faith in Austria! We will firmly continue the fight against political Islam and refrain from false tolerance here."
Alle Christen müssen in #Österreich frei und in Sicherheit ihren Glauben ausüben können! Wir werden den Kampf gegen den politischen Islam entschieden weiterführen und hier keine falsche Toleranz zeigen.
— Sebastian Kurz (@sebastiankurz) October 30, 2020
Danke an alle Polizisten für ihren Einsatz! https://t.co/1Psz3C82vn
Kurz has been vocal, before and after the church incident and the shooting attack, in his condemnation of political Islam and Islamic terrorism. In an interview he called on the European Union to do more to tackle the problem, saying:
"The EU must focus much more strongly on the problem of political Islam in the future. I hope we will see an end to this misunderstood tolerance and that all countries in Europe will finally realise how dangerous the ideology of political Islam is for our freedom and the European way of life."
He went on to say that the EU must not only tackle terrorism but tis breeding ground within Islamic extremist ideology:
"The EU must, with utmost determination and unity, wage a war against Islamist terror, but particularly against its political base, that is to say political Islam."
His statements come after a month which saw multiple attacks across France as well as the attack in Vienna. In France, a teacher was beheaded after showing a cartoon of the Islamic prophet Mohammed, 3 people were stabbed to death outside a church in Nice, and a Greek Orthodox priest was shot in Lyon. It appears that after its defeat in Iraq and Syria, ISIS may have been able to reorganise and is once again able to launch attacks on Europe. European security services are particularly worried about fighters who fought for ISIS in Iraq and Syria who have now returned to their home nations armed and trained.
COMMENTS