Islamic State Claims Responsibility for Terror Attack in Vienna
From the Ministry of the Interior it became known that the terrorist militia Islamic State (IS) claimed the attack in Vienna with four dead and 22 partially severely injured.
The IS announced on its platform that "a soldier of the caliphate" carried out the attack with firearms and a knife and killed or injured about 30 people in Vienna, including police officers". / Picture: © Wikipedia / Ritsaiph
According to APA - Austrian Press Agency, the IS announced today on its platform Naschir News that "a soldier of the caliphate" carried out the attack with firearms and a knife and killed or injured about 30 people in the Austrian capital, including police officers".
An IS statement on the messaging service Telegram tonight also revealed the extremist organization's confession, APA said.
However, there were no indications to substantiate the declaration.
The Ministry of the Interior is currently examining the letter of confession.
It cannot yet be said whether it is genuine or not, APA said.
Middle East expert and political scientist Thomas Schmidinger today told APA, that the Islamic State may be using the attack as a free rider.
"There is some evidence that this was not decided at the IS headquarters, but that the reason that Vienna was the target of the attack is because the assassin lived in Vienna and is a jihadist socialized in Vienna."
But it could also have been a hybrid, namely that the assassin was in contact with the IS through the social networks.
However, APA concludes that it is still too early for a final assessment.