After Vienna threat: Music venues as terrorist targets
August 8, 2024
August 2024: Three Taylor Swift concerts in Vienna cancelled
Organizers have canceled three concerts by US pop star Taylor Swift slated for August 8, 9 and 10 at Vienna's Ernst Happel Stadiumdue to a planned Islamist terror attack. Police had expected around 65,000 people to attend each of Swift's concerts and many fans had already arrived in the Austrian city. Shortly after his arrest, a 19-year-old main suspect confessed that he had wanted to kill "a large number of people" at the concert by committing a suicide attack, Austrian security authorities said. Chemical substances and technical devices were seized from the man, who sympathized with the jihadist "Islamic State" (IS) militia. A 17-year-old was also arrested. The two arrests have reduced the concrete threat situation to a minimum, authorities say, but an abstract threat and increased risk of terrorism has existed for months.
March 2024: IS attacks Moscow's Crocus City Hall
More than 140 people were killed in an attack onCrocus City Hall on the outskirts of Moscow in March 2024. Four gunmen opened fire on concertgoers and then set fire to the building. IS, which is fighting Russia in Syria and is also active in the Russian Caucasus region, claimed responsibility for the attack. However, this did not stop Russia's government from suspecting that Ukrainians had masterminded the attack, which began shortly before rock band Piknik started playing their hit song "Nothing to fear."
June 2017: Germany's Rock am Ring festival evacuated after terror alert
Around 86,000 rock fans were forced to leave the Rock am Ring festival grounds on June 2, 2017, after police received information about a possible terrorist threat. Yet no materials or immediate threats indicating a planned attack were found after a thorough search of the site and further investigations. The festival continued the next day. This increased vigilance at Rock am Ring festival in 2017 reflected Europe's tense security situation, particularly after the attacks in Paris and Manchester.
May 2017: Bomb attack on Manchester Arena
In May 2017, 22 people were killed and hundreds injured in an attack on Manchester Arena in the UK. A 22-year-old had detonated a homemade bomb as spectators were leaving the venue after attending a concert by US singer Ariana Grande. Many parents had been waiting there to pick up their children. The terrorist IS militia claimed responsibility for the attack. Grande later organized a benefit concert to raise money for the victims and their families.
January 2017: Reina nightclub attacked in Istanbul
During a New Year's Eve party on January 1, 2017, shortly after 1 AM, a man armed with an assault rifle opened fire in Istanbul's Reina nightclub, killing 39 people. The perpetrator was initially able to escape but arrested two weeks later in Istanbul. IS claimed responsibility for the attack, which it said was intended to exact revenge for the Turkish military intervention against IS in Syria. The incident shocked Turkey, which had already experienced a series of terrorist attacks and was dealing with political tensions at the time.
July 2016: Suicide attacker strikes Ansbach music festival
On the evening of July 24, 2016, a suicide bomber blew himself up at the Ansbach Open music festival in Germany. Apart from the 27-year-old attacker there were no fatalities, but 15 people were injured, many of them seriously. The perpetrator, who apparently held Islamist beliefs, had detonated an explosive device in his backpack outside a wine bar in the small Bavarian town close to the festival venue. Shortly beforehand, he had been turned away at the entrance because he did not have a ticket.
November 2015: IS attacks the Bataclan venue in Paris
On the evening of November 13, 2015, three heavily armed terrorists stormed the Bataclan concert venue in Paris during a concert by US rock band Eagles of Death Metal. The attackers started firing indiscriminately on the approximately 1,500 attendees and then took hostages. The police intervened after around two and a half hours and killed two of the attackers, with the third person blowing himself up. The attack was part of a series of coordinated attacks by the terrorist IS group that evening in the French capital. A total of 130 people were killed, 90 of them at the Bataclan venue. The attack on the Bataclan remains one of the most serious acts of terrorism in recent European history, permanently changing the continent's sense of security and danger.
This article was traslated from German