The Islamic State took credit on Tuesday for a gunman in Vienna center city who killed 4 and wounded 14, a research group reported.
Monitoring an ISIS channel on provider Telegram, the Middle East Media Research Institute quoted the terror group as sayin the man, which it identified as Abu Dujanah Al-Albani, was armed with a machine gun, pistol and a machete in the Monday night rampage before being killed by police.
“We experienced an attack last night by at least one Islamist terrorist,” an Austrian official said.
Authorities said the assailant holds Austrian and North Macedonia citizenship. ISIS said he is an Albanian. The 20-year-old was sentenced to 22 months in prison for trying to join ISIS in Syria, but served just seven months because of his youth..
ISIS showed a video of al-Albani pledging allegiance to terror leader Abu Ibrahim Al-Hashimi. Al-Albani wore a black T-shirt and brandished the same weapons he apparently use in the attack.
“Allahu Akbar. Praise be to Allah,” al-Albani says. “The Islamic State is remaining, with Allah Almighty’s permission.”
ISIS members said on online that the attack was revenge for cartoons of the Prophet Muhammed displayed in France that spurred a migrant to behead the teacher who used one picture as a lecture on free speech.
France has responded by cracking down on extremists in recent weeks, closing a mosque and deporting suspected terrorists.
The attack shows ISIS, while losing operating space in Iraq and Syria, can still find recruits in Europe to attack the West.
• Rowan Scarborough can be reached at rscarborough@washingtontimes.com.
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