Austrian police have arrested 30 suspected Islamists and searched more than 60 properties as the government stepped up its “war on political Islam” in the aftermath of the Vienna terrorist attack.
The wave of pre-dawn raids, dubbed Operation Luxor, was directed at the Austrian branches of Hamas, the Palestinian militant group, and the Muslim Brotherhood, an international organisation that promotes sharia as the guiding principle of the state.
While the operation had been planned long before the killing spree in central Vienna on Monday last week, it was described by the interior minister as a “blow to the breeding grounds of extremism”.
Sebastian Kurz, the chancellor, has declared a campaign against political Islam and the state has shut down two Salafist mosques in the capital thought to have been visited by the gunman, Kujtim Fejzulai.
Today (Tuesday) Mr Kurz will travel to Paris for a summit with President Macron of France as the pair seek to build a joint European front against Islamism. They will also discuss the fight against terrorism with Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, and her ally Ursula von der Leyen, the German president of the European Commission.
Read the article by Oliver Moody in The Australian.