Taylor Swift is resuming her disrupted world tour with five dates at Wembley (Picture: Getty)
Taylor Swift is a longstanding target for terrorists who have been ‘energised’ after an alleged plot to target her world tour was foiled, a researcher monitoring ISIS has warned.
The superstar is due to return to the stage at Wembley a week after her three scheduled gigs in Vienna were cancelled in light of the apparent plan to carry out a mass casualty attack.
Swift, who is playing her first shows since the dates were called off, remains a prime target for Islamic extremists, according to the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI).
The sold-out London shows, which are due to begin tonight amid tight security, also follow the murder of three young girls at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport.
Police have said the incident is not being treated as terror-related.
Pop stars have emerged as targets for extremists who view music and Western culture in general as an affront to what they purport is the pure meaning of Islam, according to MEMRI’s research.
Steven Stalinsky, executive director of the Washington-based analysis organisation, said: ‘Taylor Swift is not the first popular young American celebrity visiting Europe who has been targeted by ISIS.
‘There was also the case of the Ariana Grande concert in 2017, which unfortunately was a successful attack.
Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour is due to get underway at Wembley (Picture: Getty)
‘Swift is American, the biggest musician in the world right now, and her concerts are the most successful in history, so that makes her a target.
‘Even though the plot was not successful it still made headline news across the US and Europe and has energised jihadis online around the world.
‘It is a reminder that, while they have not pulled off a huge successful attack in the West, they are still out there plotting.
‘It’s been the great work of counter-terrorism officials in the US and Europe and around the world who have stopped a lot of potential attacks.’
MEMRI’s Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor, which has a global scope, has previously yielded information which has been passed on to international counter-terrorism agencies.
Police walk outside Wembley ahead of Swift’s first show (Picture: SWNS)
‘This is not the first time Swift has come up in jihadi talk,’ Stalinsky said.
‘In 2020 an ISIS Telegram channel called for American celebrities to be targeted and kidnapped to exchange for the release of Pakistani-American Aafia Siddiqui, who tried to kill American soldiers and is what you might call a top-level detainee in a US jail.
‘Every couple of years they put out a statement about her.
‘The first person they mentioned in 2020 was Taylor Swift, and they also mentioned Miley Cyrus.’
A police officer on Wembley Way ahead of Swift’s shows (Picture: Reuters)
Tight security is in place as the record-breaking tour hits Wembley, with a long list of prohibited items among the safeguards and entry precautions.
The multiple Grammy winner’s five London gigs are also due to take place in the long shadow of the suicide attack at the Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, which left 22 people dead and more than 250 injured.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan said last week that ‘many lessons’ were learned after the 2017 atrocity and the city is ‘working closely with police, ensuring that the concerts can take place in London safely.’
Online ‘chatter’ is doubtless being closely monitored by the UK agencies, with Stalinsky seeing no let-up in jihadi online activity despite international attempts to remove such content from social media networks.
‘There’s two elements in the jihadi history,’ he said. ‘One element is that ISIS always want to send their own people to conduct attacks anywhere.
The 19-year-old suspect in the Vienna plot (Picture: Roland Schlager/APA/AFP)
‘The second concept, and this is also with al-Qaeda, is that if you can’t send someone you can incite them online.
‘For a long time it’s been Telegram and while Twitter was used as a platform for radicalising Western youth a lot of work went into cleaning it up.
‘But since Elon Musk bought it there’s been a lot more freedom and a lot of the jihadis have been slowly going back there.
‘It’s not quite what it used to be in the heyday of ISIS but there’s a lot of jihadi content there. ISIS, al-Qaeda and other groups have many media wings and they are putting out their content not only in Arabic but in English, French, German and Spanish.
‘They are going after kids and they are suggesting how and where to do an attack and what kind of weapons to use.
‘Every day we see content that was removed years ago being reposted. A whole new generation is being radicalised online.’
One of the messages on Twitter uncovered by MEMRI’s Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor (Picture: memri.org/@MEMRIReports)
MEMRI has recorded messages purporting that music is forbidden in Islam (Picture: memri.org/@MEMRIReports)
A 19-year-old suspect arrested over the alleged Vienna attack is said to have been radicalised by Afghanistan-based ISIS-K.
A picture has emerged of the teenager — who has been identified as Beran A — showing him posing with two large knives.
The Eras Tours shows were expected to draw 65,000 concertgoers on August 8, 9 and 10, with up to 30,000 more fans gathering outside the Ernst-Happel-Stadion during each event.
Beran A allegedly planned to ‘kill as many people as possible’ outside the venue with knives or homemade explosives, according to the Austrian authorities. Bomb-making materials were found at his home and he had pledged ‘an oath of allegiance’ to ISIS-K, it is alleged.
Swift’s Vienna shows were cancelled after a terror threat (Picture: Instagram)
Two other arrests, a 17-year-old from Austria and an 18-year-old from Iraq, were announced by the country’s interior minister last week.
The authorities acted after the US shared counter-terrorism information with their Austrian partners about a threat to Swift’s concerts.
Swift, 36, has not made any public statements about the alleged plot.
She previously reacted to the murders of the three girls in Southport on July 29 by saying she is ‘completely in shock’ and was at a ‘loss’ at how to express her sympathy to the families.
Axel Muganwa Rudakubana, 18, is charged with three counts of murder and 10 of attempted murder in relation to the tragedy.
Taylor Swift’s tour is continuing under heightened security (Picture: Reuters)
At the time of the attack, Merseyside Police said ‘the incident is not currently being treated as terror-related and we are not looking for anyone else’.
The Metropolitan Police said: ‘London plays host to a significant number of very high profile events each year with millions of visitors having a safe and enjoyable experience.
‘The Met works closely with venue security teams and other partners to ensure there are appropriate security and policing plans in place.
‘There is nothing to indicate that the matters being investigated by the Austrian authorities will have an impact on upcoming events here in London. As always, we will continue to keep any new information under careful review.’
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