CIA reveals Taylor Swift terror plot shock

The US’s Central Intelligence Agency revealed the surprise role its ‘Swiftie’ spies had in foiling an ISIS terror plot to kill ‘tens of thousands’.

The CIA played a surprise role in foiling an ISIS terror plot to kill “tens of thousands of people” during Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour in Vienna, according to the spy agency.

Intelligence provided to Austrian law enforcement came from CIA headquarters, where deputy director David S Cohen said “Swifties” celebrated the lives saved by stopping the attack from three Islamic State terrorists.

“They were plotting to kill a huge number, tens of thousands of people at this concert, I am sure many Americans,” Mr. Cohen said at the annual Intelligence Summit in Washington, D.C.

“The Austrians were able to make those arrests because the agency and our partners in the intelligence community provided them information about what this ISIS-connected group was planning to do.”

Taylor Swift performs during her Eras Tour at Sofi stadium in Inglewood, California. Picture: AFP

A 19-year-old Austrian, as well as two minors, allegedly planned to drive a car bomb into the crowd outside the Ernst Happel Stadium in Vienna.

Swift cancelled three sold-out concerts, with an estimated 200,000 people expected to attend over the three events, and said the plot filled her “with a new sense of fear”.

Mr Cohen did not go into further detail during his comments at the intelligence summit, which was first reported by Bloomberg News and The New York Times.

He added that such counter-terrorism warnings don’t always receive the intense spotlight as the attack planned on Taylor Swift, but that the successful operation in Austria was different.

“As a result, hundreds of lives undoubtedly were saved,” Mr Cohen said. ”I can tell you within my agency and others, there were people who thought that was a really good day for Langley. And not just for the Swifties in the workforce.”

Fans queue outside the Ernst Happel Stadium in Vienna before a Coldplay concert on August 21. Taylor Swift’s concert was cancelled at the same venue amid the terror plot. Picture: AFP

US intelligence agencies were the first to warn Austrian law enforcement of the potential attack targeting Swift’s Eras Tour, NBC News reported.

Austria’s interior minister Gerhard Karner previously said other intelligence agencies were needed because Austria could not legally monitor the text messages of its own citizens.

A 19-year-old Austrian with allegiance to the Islamic State and al-Qaeda confessed to planning to “kill as many people as possible outside the concert venue”, according to Austrian authorities.

A 17-year-old working the event and an 18-year-old in contact with the mastermind were also arrested.

Swift said she was filled with a “tremendous amount of guilt” for cancelling on so many people planning to attend her shows.

“But I was also so grateful to the authorities because thanks to them, we were grieving concerts and not lives,” she said in a statement.

Originally published as CIA reveals Taylor Swift terror plot shock