Report: Muhammad Amir Siddique Vienna Austria!
After the bloody terrorist attack in the middle of Vienna City on Monday evening, the main suspect, who had apparently announced the act on the web, has now been identified. According to information from the Ministry of the Interior, it is a 20-year-old North Macedonian who also had Austrian citizenship. Kujtim F. also had a relevant criminal record and was only released from prison in December 2019. The IS supporter, who i.a. probably armed with an illegal AK-47 assault rifle, was shot by the special unit WEGA near the Ruprechtskirche.
The suspect, who poses heavily armed in a picture, was convicted in Austria at the end of April 2019 – for membership in a terrorist organization (Section 278b StGB). He was sentenced to 22 months in prison because he wanted to evacuate to Syria and join the Islamic State (IS) terrorist militia there. He was conditionally released early in early December 2019 – he was considered a young adult and thus fell under the privileges of the Juvenile Court Act.
Armed with an illegal assault rifle
According to information, Kujtim F. had sworn allegiance to the new head of the terrorist militia IS, Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Quraishi, shortly before the bloody acts. The assassin showed himself in the photo with a machete, a pistol and a Kalashnikov assault rifle. A fully automatic assault rifle was apparently also used in the attacks in downtown Vienna.
“He was equipped with a dummy explosive belt, an automatic long gun, a handgun and a machete to carry out this disgusting attack on innocent citizens,” said Interior Minister Karl Nehammer (ÖVP) on Tuesday morning, explaining the findings of the IS sympathizer who was killed.
As can be seen in the videos, the rifle should be an AK-47 Kalashnikov. In the fully automatic version, this is considered war material and, according to the Austrian Weapons Act, falls into category A (prohibited weapons). The terrorist is likely to have obtained them illegally.
Expressed sympathy for terrorist militia
Shortly before the attack, the assassin is said to have posted another photo in the text of which he again expressed his sympathy for the terrorist militia. It is not yet known whether the postings also served as a call to accomplices to strike. The assassin’s Instagram account is now closed.
Four dead, 14 partly seriously injured, several arrests
Four people were killed in the terrorist attack, and there are 14 others, some seriously injured. The Ministry of the Interior confirmed several house searches “around the perpetrator”. Several people were arrested.
