Today, Austrian police released photos of the weapon used by the attacker during Monday’s terrorist attack in Vienna. Photos from the scene of the attack show an M70 automatic rifle manufactured in Serbia, reports the Austrian news agency APA.
According to the APA, the weapon is based on an automatic Kalashnikov rifle (AK-47 and AKM) and uses 7.62 X 39 mm calibre ammunition.
In addition to the mentioned weapon, the photo also shows a machete and ammunition. Austrian investigators, meanwhile, are continuing their criminal-technical investigation into the weapons used by the 20-year-old attacker, a supporter of the Islamic State extremist group.
The Austrian Interior Ministry confirmed after the attack, which claimed four lives and wounded 20, that their agents knew weeks before the attack that the attacker had tried to buy ammunition in Slovakia in July this year.
The attacker, who was shot by police officers, was, according to investigators, part of an extreme Islamic network that extends beyond the borders of Austria. In connection with the attack, a number of arrests have been made so far in Austria, Switzerland and Germany. The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack.
In a tense atmosphere after the attack, anti-French demonstrations have been announced for this afternoon in front of the French embassy in Vienna, according to the APA. The protest, which, according to the Volksblatt newspaper, was reported by two Austrians with Pakistani roots, is said to be a response to the publication of caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad.