The United States provided intelligence that helped thwart an alleged plot by Islamic State sympathisers to attack a Taylor Swift concert in Austria, the White House confirmed on Friday.
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said, “We work closely with partners all over the world to monitor and disrupt threats. As part of that work, the United States did share information with Austrian partners to enable the disruption of a threat to Taylor Swift’s concert in Vienna.”
The intelligence led to the arrest of three alleged Islamic State sympathisers, who have been charged with planning a suicide attack at the pop star’s concert in Vienna.
Two other Austrian youths, aged 17 and 15, were detained on Wednesday in connection with the plot. The 15-year-old has since been released and is being treated as a witness, according to the Kurier newspaper.
The Iraqi suspect is reported to have sworn allegiance to IS on August 6, but his involvement in the planned attack remains unclear, the newspaper noted. Authorities are continuing to investigate the extent of his involvement.
Austrian officials indicated that the main suspect intended to carry out a suicide attack to cause mass casualties.