Weapons cache linked to Hamas found in Vienna by Austria’s intelligence service

Austrian Interior Minister Gerhard Karner attends a press conference in Vienna on Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Heinz-Peter Bader, File)

VIENNA -- Austria’s domestic intelligence service has uncovered a weapons cache in Vienna that is believed to be linked to the Palestinian militant group Hamas for use in “possible terrorist attacks in Europe,” the government said Thursday.

A 39-year-old unidentified British citizen allegedly “having close ties to the weapons cache” was arrested in London on Monday, the interior ministry statement said.

“According to the current state of the investigation, Israeli or Jewish institutions in Europe were likely to be the targets of these attacks,” it added.

The weapons cache and the suspect were part of an internationally co-ordinated investigation by the country’s Directorate for State Security and Intelligence service, or DSN, “into a global terrorist organization with ties to Hamas.”

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

Germany’s federal prosecutor’s office later on Thursday identified the suspect as Mohammed A. in line with German privacy lines. 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.”

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.

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 group has carried out hundreds of attacks against Israeli civilians over the years but has rarely operated outside Israel and the Palestinian territories.

The weapons cache, which is thought belongs 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.

“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,” Austrian Interior Minister Gerhard Karner said. “The mission is clear: zero tolerance for terrorists.”

Britain’s National Crime Agency confirmed on Thursday that the 39-year-old was arrested in central London on Monday by specialist officers from the NCA’s National Extradition Unit. He is being held in custody until his next appearance at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Monday.