Israeli President Reuven Rivlin joined other world leaders to express condolences to Austria in the wake of the deadly terror attack on the city of Vienna that killed at least three civilians and wounded several others. “Our thoughts and prayers are with you” Rivlin said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said spoke with Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurtz, to convey the message that “the people of Israel stand with Austria… against the savagery of Islamist terrorism. We are cooperating in every way with our intelligence and in every other way that we can.”
Alternate Premier Minister of Defense, Benny Gantz issued a statement that, “the terror attack in Vienna is further evidence of the need to continue resolutely and decisively fighting terrorism, wherever it raises its head, while furthering effective international cooperation and information exchange.” He added, “our thoughts are with the Austrian people and with the Jewish community of Vienna this morning.”
U.S. President Donald Trump said in a tweet that “our prayers are with the people of Vienna after yet another vile act of terrorism in Europe. These evil attacks against innocent people must stop. The U.S. stands with Austria, France, and all of Europe in the fight against terrorists, including radical Islamic terrorists.”
Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden condemned what he called a “horrific terrorist attack,” adding, “we must all stand united against hate and violence.”
Gunmen attacked six locations in central Vienna on Monday evening, starting outside the main synagogue. Witnesses described the assailants firing automatic rifles into bars that were crowded with many people seeking to enjoy a night out before enactment of a nationwide curfew to curb COVID-19.
Police confirmed that two men and one woman were killed. Fifteen others , including a police officer were wounded. One assailant was shot dead by police.
Much of the historic city center was sealed off overnight, and public transportation was halted as law enforcement official launched a manhunt for additional perpetrators. 1,000 security personnel had been deployed for the search, for which neighboring countries have offered assistance.
The home of the known assailant had been searched and video material seized. Vienna’s police chief declined to provide further details on the attacker’s identity, citing potential endangerment of the investigation.
At an early morning televised news conference today, Austrian Interior Minister Karl Nehammer said, “we experienced an attack yesterday evening by at least one Islamist terrorist, a situation that we have not had to live through in Austria for decades.” He identified the suspect, who had been wearing an explosives belt that turned out to be fake, as an Islamic State sympathizer.
“Austria for more than 75 years has been a strong democracy, a mature democracy, a country whose identity is marked by values and basic rights, with freedom of expression, rule of law, but also tolerance in human coexistence,” he said, stressing that, “Yesterday’s attack is an attack on just these values.”
Videos being circulated on social media show a gunman running down a street shouting as he fired his weapon, and the gunning down of a person outside what appeared to be a bar on the street where the synagogue is located.
The head of Vienna’s Jewish community, Oskar Deutsch, posted a message on Twitter saying it remains unclear as to whether the temple or its offices were targeted, but that they were closed at the time.
Austria’s capital had been spared the kind of deadly Islamist terrorism that has besieged other European capitals such as Paris, London, Berlin and Brussels in recent years.
In other related developments, the Islamic State has claimed responsibility for an attack on Kabul University on Monday, the group’s Amaq News Agency reported. The radical jihadis claimed to have “killed and injured 80 Afghan judges, investigators and security personnel” who had gathered upon completion of a training program. Afghan officials disputed that account, saying that 22 people were murdered. No mention of judges or prosecutors was made in the statement, although officials said multiple students were among the dead.