- The Washington Times - Saturday, December 26, 2015

Police in Vienna, Austria, are on high alert after the city and several other European capitals received warnings of possible terror attacks between Christmas and the new year.

Austrian authorities said Saturday they received warnings about possibly gun or bomb attacks, but those warnings did not specify any targets. Officials said they did not plan to cancel any holiday festivities, The Guardian reported.

The warnings did give the names of potential attackers, but an investigation into the names did not produce and concrete results.

Christoph Pölzl, a spokesman for Vienna police, said: “We do not know if these people exist in real life, or if they are only names with no real person behind them. We have no evidence that they are in Vienna, and we have no evidence that they are even in Europe,” according to The Guardian.

Authorities said they will increase security in areas where crowds are expected to gather, including transportation hubs, and will be on the lookout for suspicious bags or suitcases.

Police would not say which other cities received the warnings.

France remains on high alert following a string of shootings and bombings in November that left 130 dead and several hundred wounded.

• Kellan Howell can be reached at khowell@washingtontimes.com.

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