Austria: two dead and fifteen injured in an attack …

Two people died and at least 15 were seriously injured in one apparent terrorist attack recorded Monday evening at Vienna, the capital of Austria. The attackers, the exact number of which has not been specified, carried long guns with which they killed at least one civilian. The other fatal victim identified to date was one of the attackers killed by the security forces. The police were examining whether the gunman who had been shot was wearing an explosive belt. At around 8 p.m. local time, the suspected terrorists they started shooting people sitting on the terraces and inside the bars and restaurants in the heart of the city, a few meters from the central synagogue in Vienna.

Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz called what happened “despicable terrorist attacks”. “I am happy that our police officers have already eliminated one of the perpetrators. We will never be intimidated by terrorism and we will fight against these attacks with all means,” said the conservative politician. “At the moment, we think it is apparently a terrorist attack “Home Secretary Karl Nehammer said in statements to ORF television.

Austrian government deployed a huge security device in the center of the city, with special groups of police and anti-terrorist commandos. same activated army special forces, the Jagdkommando, which took over the surveillance of public buildings in Vienna to free the police stationed there.

The health services have set up an emergency point in the center of the city to receive and treat the injured according to their severity. For hours the situation was confusing and didn’t seem to be under control. Local police urged citizens not to leave their homes.

Security forces demarcated the area and closed the Rotenturmstrasse. This street is part of one of Vienna’s most popular nightlife districts, and hundreds of people took advantage of the last hours of the bars before the curfew and closure took effect from Monday evening. for a month, due to the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic affecting the European continent.

A witness interviewed by an Austrian TV channel said that he saw “a person running with an automatic weapon firing intensely”. Jasmin, a 17-year-old Viennese who took refuge in a restaurant, explained that “suddenly many heavily armed police officers appeared”. Austrian newspaper Kronen Journal was the first to report that one of the shootings took place near one of Vienna’s most important synagogues, where in 1981 another attack took place which left two dead.

Argentine Foreign Minister Felipe Solá repudiated the attack. In his Twitter account, he said that “Argentina condemns these cowardly actions” and called the shooting a terrorist act. “Terrorism strikes and kills once again. This time it’s Vienna.” Argentina embraces the families and friends of the victims and condemns these cowardly actions which destroy lives and shatter societies, sowing pain and hatred, ”he added.

For his part, the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, “strongly” condemned the “cowardly” and “horrible” series of attacks in the center of Vienna which “violate life and our human values”. The President of France, Emmanuel Macron, punctuated by brutal terrorist attacks in recent weeks, assured that the French “share the shock“Austrians. “Our enemies must know who they are facing. We are not going to give in,” Macron added. In the same vein, the President of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sanchez, I affirm that “hatred will not bend our societies” and that “Europe will firmly resist terrorism”.