The Enemies Within

"Before the terror attack began, according to the information currently available, some things also went wrong."

"In the next steps evidently something went wrong here with communications."

"It's up to the commission to clarify whether the process went optimally and in line with the law."

"[Austria is working] intensively [with the FBI and has received] very significant information [from the U.S. agency]."

Austria Interior Minister Karl Nehammer

 

"We don't know yet if the terrorist had supporters."

"[I urge the European Union to] 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 realize how dangerous the ideology of political Islam is for our freedom and the European way of life."

"We will find and hunt down the perpetrators, those behind this and their associates and mete out a just sentence. And we will pursue all those who have anything to do with this outrage, with all available means."

"This is not a conflict between Christians and Muslims or between Austrians and migrants. No, this is a fight between the many people who believe in peace and the few [who oppose it]. It is a fight between civilization and barbarism."

Austrian Chancellor Sebastien Kurz

( Christian Bruna/EPA )

 Austrian intelligence services have gone through large numbers of cellphone footage helping to confirm that the rampage in Vienna on Monday was perpetrated by a sole jihadist, a man known to police, a man convicted of being an accessory to terrorism, a man returned to Austria by Turkish authorities who had detailed and arrested him when he attempted at the age of 18 to pass through into Syria to join the Islamic State.

 

That man, 20-year-old Vienna-born Kujtim Fejzulai -- whose parents were from Macedonia and who himself held dual citizenship in both Macedonia and Austria -- was sent to prison and while there underwent a deradicalization program operated by a local Muslim group. He had cleverly evinced all the suitable reactions to convince everyone involved, from the program, from the prison, from the adjudicators, that he was fully deradicalized and ready to rejoin society, which led to his early release last year.

 

Mourners placed candles at the site of one of the attacks on Wednesday  Reuters

In the interim period between his release from prison and his attack in central Austria, the man attempted to buy weapons and ammunition. Although Austria manufactures weapons, its citizens must have a very good reason for wanting to acquire one, constrained to go through very strict rules and regulations, and this young man simply failed to qualify. But acquire the weapons he did, both an assault rifle, a handgun and a machete. In the space of a spare eight minutes he moved expeditiously to six disparate areas, constantly shooting, constantly shouting "Allahu Akbar!"

 

Back in June, Austria's neighbour Slovakia had contacted authorities in Austria with a heads-up. Their intelligence service handed over information linked to the attacker who had attempted and ultimately failed to acquire ammunition there. Slovakia did its due diligence as a responsible neighbour, but Austria somehow managed to misfile the information and forget about it. Now, after the tragedy of four people dead and 22 injured, three seriously, Austria is launching an investigation into the matter.

 

The gunman meant business and went about slaughtering people in a businesslike, clockwork manner. It took a frenetic eight minutes for him to accomplish his goal before he was killed, before he was able to spend longer than a mere eight minutes to reap a horrific harvest of dead Austrians. He killed an elderly man and woman, a young passerby and a waitress. He had chosen that venue, that night, before a universal lockdown for COVID control when bars, hotels and restaurants would be closed the following day and curfew began.

 

The centre of Vienna began returning to normal on Wednesday but security was still high   Reuters

"He was released early exactly because he gave the impression that he had engaged with [the] deradicalization programs and was prepared to integrate himself into society", explained Interior Minister Nehammer. Just prior to the attack, Fejzulai posted a photograph showing himself with weapons, where anyone could access the social media account where he made his declaration of intent. It is still not confidently known whether he had accomplices.

 

But 14 people between the ages of 18 and 28 were arrested on Tuesday and are being investigated on suspicion of belonging to a terrorist organization. Those arrested all have what has been termed a "migration background", some of them dual citizens of Bangladesh, North Macedonia, Turkey or Russia. They entered Austria amongst a general rush of tens of thousands of people claiming refugee status and clearly, among them were jihadists. 

 

Austria has been involved in the U.S.led Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS and has considered itself susceptible to potential jihadist attacks as its foremost security threat. It is aware of the danger of former fighters returning from Iraq or Syria. Authorities are aware that 320 residents of Austria were actively involved or had participated in some way in jihad in Syria and Iraq. 

 

Of that total some 58 were considered to have been killed in the region, while a known 93 returned to Austria. Some never left, but nurtured their jihadist aspirations from within. This man was simply one of them though he certainly did make the attempt to fight from without, within the active ranks of Islamic State jihadis. In the interests of the cause, he did the best he could. And ISIL is now proudly taking credit.

Police officers patrol through the city in Vienna, Austria, Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2020. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)