Austria’s domestic intelligence agency has discovered a weapons cache in Vienna believed to be linked to the Palestinian militant group Hamas and intended for potential terrorist attacks in Europe, the government announced Thursday, according to Arab News.
According to the Austrian Interior Ministry, a 39-year-old British citizen with “close ties” to the cache was arrested in London on Monday in coordination with British authorities. The Directorate for State Security and Intelligence (DSN), Austria’s domestic intelligence service, uncovered the cache as part of an international probe into “a global terrorist organization with connections to Hamas.”
Investigators said the cache found in a suitcase; stored in a rented facility in Vienna, contained five handguns and ten magazines. Early findings suggest that Israeli or Jewish institutions in Europe may have been the intended targets.
“The current case shows once again that the Directorate for State Security and Intelligence has an excellent international network and takes consistent action against all forms of extremism,” Austria’s Interior Minister Gerhard Karner said. “Our mission is clear: zero tolerance for terrorists.”
Britain’s National Crime Agency confirmed the suspect’s arrest, stating that he was detained in central London by officers from the National Extradition Unit and remains in custody ahead of a court appearance at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Monday.
Authorities across Europe are now working to determine the full extent of the network involved and whether additional weapons or operatives remain active on the continent.
