Radical Mosques Сlosure Targets Extremism, Not Religion, Austrian Integration Minister Says

VIENNA (Sputnik) - The closure of radical mosques after the Vienna attack is not an attack on religion, but a fight against extremism, Austrian Integration Minister Susanne Raab said on Friday.

"It is important for me to note the following: this is not an attack on religion, but a fight against extremism. This is not an attack on members of a religious community, but a common fight against the abuse of religion for the purpose of radicalization," Raab said at a press conference.

Earlier in the day, Austrian Interior Minister Karl Nehammer and Integration Minister Susanne Raab stated as quoted by APA news agency that all the so-called radical mosques across the country would be closed in the wake of the recent deadly terrorist attacks in Vienna.

According to the news agency, the decision was made following a meeting with the head of the Islamic religious community in Austria, Umit Vural. In particular, these mosques will be deprived of legal status and dissolved.

On Monday evening, a series of gunfire attacks took place in the centre of Vienna, one of the targets was a synagogue. According to the Austrian authorities, this was a terrorist attack. One assailant was killed and the police are looking for possible accomplices.

As a result of the attack, five people were killed, including the terrorist himself, who, according to the Austrian Interior Ministry, was a supporter of Daesh*.

*Daesh [ISIS, ISIL, the Islamic State] - a terrorist group banned in Russia and many other countries