Wolves of Vienna: Analysis of attack in Austria

Nahla Abdel Moneim

Vienna, the capital of Austria, witnessed a major terrorist attack that brought to mind the 2015 attacks that spread for a while throughout Europe, as extremists carried out attacks on six different sites on Tuesday morning, November 2, most notably in the vicinity of the country’s main Jewish synagogue. As a result, four people were killed and dozens were injured.

For its part, the government classified the attacks as terrorist operations belonging to Islamist extremist currents.

Interior Minister Karl Nehammer revealed that the first perpetrator of the attack, who was killed by police forces, was named Kujtim Fejzulai, who was sympathetic to ISIS.

According to the preliminary information available, 20-year-old Fejzulai is of Albanian decent and has dual nationalities between North Macedonia and Austria, in which he was born. Sky News quoted the editor of the Austrian newspaper Walter, Florian Klink, as saying that Fejzulai was an extremist Islamist and had been trying to travel to Syria to join ISIS.

Security failure or ideological directive

The recent attack in Austria prompted media in Austria to accuse the government of neglecting to deal with the issue of extremists. It seems that the security authorities considered that the perpetrators, the first killed and the second still on the run, were unable to carry out bloody attacks and thus allowed them to remain active even after failed attempts to join ISIS in the Middle East.

Although Austria’s membership in the European Union must have allowed it to register extremists in a number of circles and closely follow them for security, it is clear that the failure of dealing with developments in the terrorist file may have played a role in this latest incident.

On the other hand, there is a burning conversation about inter-religious hatred in Europe, especially France, which has faced a major campaign against it after cartoons were published by Charlie Hebdo about Muslims, while the country’s political will has complicated the crisis, which may have contributed in one way or another to justify extremists to return to fighting. This is apparent from the young age of the perpetrators, whether in the attacks in Austria or France, as the ages of the perpetrators of the recent operations ranged between 18 and 20 years old.

Preliminary analysis of Vienna attack

The attack in Vienna has brought back shooting attacks and the carrying of automatic weapons in Europe following years of simple operations such as stabbing or being run over. It is likely that the elements may have exploited a security gap in Austria’s defenses that allowed the obtainment and circulation of weapons or that the extremists already have a strong relationship with ISIS leaders. However, it is possible that terrorist outposts already exist and may possess weapons and explosive equipment in separate places around the country and the entire continent.

Faced with this situation, Germany has tightened its borders with Austria, fearing that the fugitive would cross the borders between them to take advantage of the freedom of movement in EU countries. Tight security measures have also been taken by the Austrian authorities. On November 3, the police carried out 18 raids in various parts of the country as part of a widespread arrest campaign.

The variables associated with the attack parallels with the international forces supporting terrorism, mainly Turkey, which was accused by Austrian intelligence for managing an internal conflict in Vienna and exploiting its relations with Islamic cultural centers to mobilize extremists to fight in the streets, according to statements by Interior Minister Nehammer in June.

With Austria witnessing a return of terrorism, it is likely that matters will be re-evaluated with regard to Turkey in Europe, as well as the centers and personalities cooperating with it that may be a hidden source of trouble. In addition, Ankara’s previous keenness to pressure European countries to take back ISIS elements from Turkey constitutes a dangerous cooperation between the ideological extremists already in the country and those loaded with combat expertise from abroad.