Vienna - Austrian police have arrested eight people in anti-terrorist raids conducted in Vienna and Graz, the country's APA news agency reports. According to the local Kronen Zeitung newspaper, all of those detained were from the former Yugoslavia. Police and units from the Office for Protection of the Constitution have carried out several anti-terror raids targeting "extreme Salafists" since Thursday morning. The raids focused on the networks of the Muslim preacher Mirsad O., also known as Ebu Tejma, who was recently arrested for hate preaching, Kronen Zeitung reports. In July of 2016, Mirsad O. was sentenced to 20 years in prison for committing murder and being part of a terrorist group. A 17-year old teenager arrested in Vienna last Friday over allegations that he was plotting a terrorist attack in the Austrian capital called the preacher his "idol." Police in Graz have raided numerous apartments, as well as eight mosques considered dangerous, which apparently get their funding mainly from Arab countries. Several similar mosques have been stormed in Vienna as well. Around 800 law enforcement officers are reported to have taken part in the special operations. The raids were conducted "in the context of pending investigations concerning suspected participation in a terrorist organization [Islamic State, IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL]," APA (Austria Presse Agentur) news agency writes, citing officials. Police have stepped up security measures in Vienna since the arrest of the 17-year-old teen on Friday. Austrian Interior Minister Wolfgang Sobotka said the teen has admitted to building a "test bomb" in Germany, where his suspected accomplice was also arrested, state broadcaster ORF reported.
