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TERRORISM

Austrian jihadist believed to have died in Syria

An Austrian jihadist who served time in prison in Vienna on terrorism charges and later joined Isis (the extremist Islamic State group) is believed to have died from injuries sustained during fighting in Syria, according to a report in the Österreich newspaper.

Published: 27 November 2015 09:52 CET
Austrian jihadist believed to have died in Syria
A screenshot from YouTube showing Mahmoud on the left. Photo: Österreich

Mohamed Mahmoud (30) was active on Twitter and Facebook and regularly posted and featured in Isis propaganda videos. However, his social media accounts have been quiet since November 11th and expert sources in Vienna told the Österreich tabloid that they believe he is dead.

His last posting on his social media accounts was reportedly the sentence “God calls you out of the darkness”.

An earlier posting was a photo of a battered copy of the Koran and a white flower, with the text “The Koran is the salvation, the sword of victory.”

Österreich’s source said that this was a clear message that Mahmoud had died. “When Firas Houidi, another Vienna jihadist was killed in Syria, this image was also posted on his social media accounts.”

In August, Mahmoud posted photos of himself posing in front of decapitated corpses. He later posted an execution video which showed him shooting a kneeling hostage in the back of a head with a Kalashnikov, and he called for “brothers and sisters” in Austria and Germany to commit terror attacks against unbelievers.

He was reported to be seriously injured on October 16th when a US drone attacked a convoy in the Isis stronghold of Raqqa. Mahmoud, a rapper from Berlin called Deso Dogg (real name Denis Cuspert), and 14 other jihadists were believed to be in the convoy.

So far, Austria’s police intelligence agency has not confirmed the reports of Mahmoud’s death.

“Many jihadists post their own death notices, so that they can then assume a false identity,” it said in a statement.

Mahmoud was sentenced to four years in prison in Vienna in 2007 on charges of forming a terrorist group, and fled to Germany and Egypt after his release. He was later arrested in Turkey, but set free again and then is believed to have joined Isis in Syria and assumed the name Abu Usama.

TERRORISM

What is the risk of new terror attacks in Austria?

Following the March 22nd attack in Moscow’s Crocus City Hall that left over 140 dead, European governments are evaluating the threat of terror attacks. Is Austria a target for fresh terrorist attacks?

Published: 28 March 2024 12:32 CET
What is the risk of new terror attacks in Austria?

With responsibility for the Moscow attack being taken by the Islamist terror organisation ISIS-K, national intelligence services are reevaluating the threat posed to targets within their borders. 

‘No concrete threat’

Austrian officials have been quick to give their appraisal of the situation. 

“We currently have the Islamist scene under control,” stressed Omar Haijawi-Pirchner, head of the Directorate of State Security & Intelligence (DSN) – the governmental agency responsible for combatting internal threats – in an interview with the Ö1 Morgenjournal radio programme on Tuesday. 

He continued: “The terrorist attacks in Moscow, for example, definitely increase the risk. But at the moment, we do not see any concrete threat of an attack in Austria,”

Other experts and officials have warned that while there are no concrete threats, Austrians should not be complacent. 

‘Situation is still valid’ 

Interior Minister Gerhard Karner announced tighter security at church festivals during the Easter period, in the days after the attack, and stressed that the high terror alert level introduced after the October 7 Hamas attacks was still in place. 

“This increased risk situation is still valid,” noted Karner.

READ MORE: What does Austria’s raised terror alert mean for the public?

Meanwhile, terror researcher Peter Neumann of King’s College London told ORF’s ‘ZiB 2’ news broadcast on Monday that Austria remains a potential target due to its Central Asian migrant population. 

Neumann noted that countries at most risk are those “in which Tajik and Central Asian diasporas exist and where ISIS-K finds it relatively easy to identify and recruit people”. 

He continued, identifying both Austria and Germany as “countries in which the ISPK is particularly active and which are particularly at risk from terrorist attacks”.

New threats

Austria has not been spared from attacks from homegrown terrorists.

On November 2nd 2020, amid Coronavirus lockdowns, Austrian-born Kujtim Fejzulai shot and killed four, injuring twenty-three others during a shooting spree across Vienna. He was ultimately shot dead by police. 

Fejzulai was already under surveillance by federal authorities for his beliefs and had been released from prison on parole less than a year before. 

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