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Austrian authorities stated Tuesday that they had dismantled a suspected ISIS terror cell comprised of nine young men and one woman. One suspect was apprehended.
According to Austria’s internal intelligence service DSN, the suspects’ attitudes are somewhere between “fundamental Islamic” and “terrorist,” based on their investigations and interrogations so far. It did not release any other information on the suspects, stating that it is still conducting additional investigations.
The suspects, who are between the ages of 15 and 23, and live in the northern Austrian city of Linz, reportedly “have been recruiting for the terrorist organization ISIS and its criminal activities for a long time,” according to the intelligence service.
The identities of the suspects were not given in line with Austrian privacy rules, but Austria’s APA news agency reported that the suspects are from Austria, Turkey, Iraq, Russia and Croatia or are stateless.
Hundreds of mobile phones, laptops, PCs, other data carriers, and propaganda materials were confiscated during house raids in early July.
The Linz public prosecutor’s office ordered the imprisonment of one of the suspects, an 18-year-old, citing a possibility of his leaving or committing crimes. The other suspicions are being looked into.
The DSN stated that the gang was also purportedly tied to the Caucasus Emirate, an extreme group active in Russia’s Caucasus, but provided no additional details.
The gang is also suspected of encouraging a 19-year-old to spray ISIS graffiti and cause more property damage in St. Poelten, west of Vienna.