Weapons cache found in Austria suspected to be for terrorist attacks on Jewish sites

Austria’s domestic intelligence service has uncovered a hidden arsenal of weapons in Vienna that is believed to be linked to the Palestinian militant group Hamas for use in “possible terrorist attacks in Europe.”

The government in Vienna suspects that Israeli or Jewish institutions in Europe were likely to be the targets of attacks involving those firearms, according to their public statement made this week, as cited by Austrian media outlets.

A 39-year-old unidentified British citizen allegedly “having close ties to the arsenal” was arrested in London this week, the interior ministry statement said.

The arms stash and the suspect were part of an internationally coordinated investigation by Austria's Directorate for State Security and Intelligence service, or DSN, “into a global terrorist organization with ties to Hamas.”

During the investigation, the ministry said its intelligence service found “suspicion that a group has brought weapons into Austria to use in possible terrorist attacks in Europe.”

The collection of firearms, which is thought to belong to unspecified foreign operations linked to Hamas, was discovered in a suitcase in a rented storage room in Vienna and contained five handguns and 10 accompanying magazines.

He was identified by Germany’s federal prosecutor’s office only as Mohammed A., in line with German privacy laws. It said in a statement that he met up twice with Abdel Al G., who was arrested in Germany last month on suspicion of plotting attacks on Israeli or Jewish institutions in Germany.

“On these occasions, Mohammed A. took over five handguns and ammunition from Abed Al G. He then transported the weapons to Austria and stored them in Vienna,” the prosecutor’s statement said. “These actions served to prepare terrorist attacks on Israeli or Jewish facilities in Germany.”

In a statement at the time, Hamas denied having any connection to the suspects arrested in Germany last month, describing the allegations of a link to the group as baseless.

The statement said that “after his extradition from Great Britain,” the suspect will be brought before an investigating judge at the Federal Court of Justice in Germany.

By Nazrin Sadigova