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The Independent
17-02-2025
- The Independent
Boy stabbed to death and five injured in ‘ISIS-inspired' knife attack in Austria
A Syrian asylum seeker suspected of killing a teen and injuring five others in a stabbing attack was inspired by Islamic State, Austrian authorities have said. A 14-year-old boy was killed in the main square of the southern Austrian city of Villach on Saturday afternoon, before the attacker was mowed down by a food delivery driver - who was also Syrian. Police spokesperson Rainer Dionisio told The Independent the attacker had acted with an Islamist motivation. Isis flags were found during a search of the 23-year-old suspect's house, after which authorities revealed he had sworn allegiance to Islamic State after being radicalised online. The suspect, who had legal residence in Austria, was detained at the scene seven minutes after police were called. Five people between 15 and 36 years old had been wounded, three of whom remained in intensive care as of Sunday. Austrian interior minister Gerhard Karner said on Sunday the perpetrator was a suspected Islamist who had been radicalised online. 'This was an Islamist attack with ties to Isis,' he told reporters. 'According to investigations, the attacker radicalized himself online in a short period.' The suspect, who has been charged with murder and attempted murder, was not previously known to Austrian police. Mr Karner said he felt 'anger about an Islamist attacker who indiscriminately stabbed innocent people here in this city'. The governor of Carinthia, Peter Kaiser, said it was the 'first Isis terror attack here in Villach'. Victims of the attack, which include five Austrians and one Turkish national, are not believed to have been specifically targeted. Mr Dionisio said on Saturday a man had 'randomly attacked passers-by with a knife'. The incident happened just before 4pm local time in the centre of the city in southern Austria. A 'heroic' 42-year-old Syrian food delivery driver played a 'crucial role' in helping police arrest the attacker. After witnessing the attack taking place, he rammed the man to the ground with his car. Speaking to Austrian media outlet Krone, the driver Alaaeddin Alhalabi said: 'I didn't think twice and drove at him. It threw him a few metres away, then he remained lying on the ground. 'He wanted to go towards the city centre, there were children on the street - I couldn't allow that. I have children myself. If I had been faster, the 14-year-old might not have been dead.' State governor Peter Kaiser said the man's intervention 'shows how closely terrorist evil but also human good can be united in one and the same nationality'. Police are still working to find out whether the suspect acted alone, and police are searching for other potential suspects. As mourners paid their respects, a national debate has erupted on security and immigration. Austria's far-right Freedom Party (FPO), which won September's parliamentary election, last week said it was unable to form a coalition government. But the party quickly seized on the attack, pledging increased deportations to countries such as Syria and Afghanistan - countries which Austria cannot legally deport people to. "No migrant would be able to commit murder or any other crime in our country if they were not in Austria in the first place," FPO leader Herbert Kickl said in a statement posted on social media. "At the same time, I am angry – angry at those politicians who have allowed stabbings, rapes, gang wars and other capital crimes to become the order of the day in Austria. This is a first-class failure of the system, for which a young man in Villach has now had to pay with his life.' Centrist parties are now looking at forming a government as the president considers options including a snap election. Conservative Party leader Christian Stocker said on X the attacker "must be brought to justice and be punished with the full force of the law". 'We all want to live in a safe Austria,' he said, adding that this means political measures need to be taken to 'avoid such acts of horror in the future'. The leader of the Social Democrats, Andreas Babler, said on X that "the full force of the law" must be used, adding: 'Crimes like this one simply should not happen in our society.' Peter Kaiser, the governor of the Austrian province of Carinthia, expressed his condolences to the family of the 14-year-old victim. He said: 'This outrageous atrocity must be met with harsh consequences. I have always said with clarity and unambiguously: Those who live in Carinthia, in Austria, have to respect the law and adjust to our rules and values." The Free Syrian Community of Austria distanced itself from the attack, saying that Syrians fled their homeland because they were no longer safe, and are 'grateful to have found asylum and protection in Austria'. The statement added: 'Anyone who causes strife and disturbs the peace of society does not represent the Syrians who have sought and received protection here.' Villach is known for its carnival and is in an area that is a tourist hotspot in the summer as it includes one of Austria's most famous lakes. 'I have been in the [Carinthian police] press service for 20 years and cannot recall such an act,' Mr Dionisio told ORF.
Times of Oman
17-02-2025
- Politics
- Times of Oman
Austria stabbing 'Islamist attack,' interior minister says
The perpetrator of a knife attack in the Austrian city of Villach was radicalized online and had links to the so-called "Islamic State" group, Austria's interior minister said. The Syrian suspect, who randomly started attacking passersby with a knife on Saturday, was an "Islamist attacker," Interior Minister Gerhard Karner said on Sunday. The attack left a teenager killed and caused five other injuries. "It is an Islamist attack with IS connections," Karner told reporters, adding that the suspect was radicalized online "in a short space of time." What else do we know about the attack? Interior Minister Karner said Sunday he felt "anger about an Islamist attacker who indiscriminately stabbed innocent people here in this city." The suspect used a folding knife to target passersby, police said. He was arrested shortly after the attack, when another Syrian — a food delivery driver — stopped him by ramming him with his car. State governor Peter Kaiser thanked a 42-year-old Syrian man. "This shows how closely terrorist evil but also human good can be united in one and the same nationality," he said. The suspect is an asylum seeker but has a valid residence permit and no criminal record, police said. Rare attack restarts migration debate Austria's President Alexander Van der Bellen condemned the attack as "horrific." "No words can undo the suffering, the horror, the fear. My thoughts are with the family of the deceased victim and the injured," he said on X. Carinthia Governor Peter Kaiser of the Social Democrats called for the "harshest consequences" for this "unbelievable atrocity." Far-right leader Herbert Kickl meanwhile called for a "rigorous clamp-down on asylum." Kickl's Freedom Party (FPÖ) unprecedentedly topped last September's national elections, but announced earlier this week it had failed to form a government with the runner-up and incumbent conservatives. The parties failed to reach consensus on who would hold sensitive cabinet posts dealing with security. Syrians condemn the attack The Free Syrian Community in Austria also condemned the attack and distanced itself from it in a statement on Facebook. "We would like to emphasize: Anyone who causes strife and disturbs the peace of society does not represent the Syrians who have sought and received protection here," the statement said. Austria, like many other countries in Europe, hosts a sizable Syrian community, the majority of whom fled during the civil war which lasted over a decade. When Syria's Bashar Assad was ousted in December's lightning offensive, Austria joined a host of European countries that froze pending asylum requests from Syrians. The country also stopped family reunifications, sending out at least 2,400 letters to revoke refugee status. The Austrian Interior Ministry said it was preparing "an orderly repatriation and deportation program to Syria."
New York Times
16-02-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
Knife Attack in Austria Kills One and Injures Four
A teenager died and several other people were injured in Villach, Austria, on Saturday after a man attacked them with a knife, officials said. A suspect has been detained in connection with the attack; it is not clear whether he knew the victims. The attack happened around 4 p.m. local time, killing a 14-year-old and injuring four other people, according to the mayor of Villach, a city in the south near the Italian and Slovenian borders. The police told The Associated Press that two people were seriously injured. The suspect is a 23-year-old Syrian man with legal residence in Austria, local police officials said in an interview with Austria's public broadcaster ORF. It is not known if he lived in Villach. The motive is also unknown, but police are investigating the suspect's background, said Rainer Dionisio, a spokesman for the police department in Carinthia, the province where Villach is located. Peter Kaiser, Carinthia's governor, called for the 'harshest consequences' for the attacker, saying the perpetrator 'must be put on trial, imprisoned, and deported' in a post on X. The city's mayor, Günther Albel, wrote on Meta: 'To all those who sow hatred and violence, I say: You will not win.' Several similar attacks in neighboring Germany in recent months, including a car attack in Munich last week, have pushed migration to the forefront of that country's national election campaign. Millions of Syrians have sought refuge in Europe after a popular uprising against the nation's autocratic longtime leader, Bashar al-Assad, that began in 2011 turned into a civil war. The large migration has strained social safety nets in Europe and stirred concern about assimilation, which has at times taken openly xenophobic form and provided an opening for right-wing, nationalist political movements. The collapse of the Assad regime in December prompted several European countries to pause legal proceedings on asylum status for Syrians. Austria has said it would plan to deport Syrians whose claims for asylum failed. Violence is relatively uncommon in Austria, which was ranked as the fifth-safest country in the world as of 2023, according to the Global Peace Index.
Boston Globe
16-02-2025
- Politics
- Boston Globe
A 23-year-old man stabbed 6 people in Austria killing 1 in what police describe as a random attack
A 42-year-old man who works for a food delivery company witnessed the incident from his car, police said. He drove toward the suspect and helped to prevent things from getting worse, Dionisio told Austria's public broadcaster ORF. The victims were all men, with two seriously injured and two sustaining minor injuries, police said. Later on Saturday, police said a fifth person, also a man, was injured in the attack. Peter Kaiser, the governor of the Austrian province of Carinthia, expressed his condolences to the family of the 14-year-old victim. Advertisement 'This outrageous atrocity must be met with harsh consequences. I have always said with clarity and unambiguously: Those who live in Carinthia, in Austria, have to respect the law and adjust to our rules and values.' A person lights a candle at the site of a stabbing attack in Villach, Austria. Darko Bandic/Associated Press 'At the same time, I am angry — angry at those politicians who have allowed stabbings, rapes, gang wars and other capital crimes to become the order of the day in Austria. This is a first-class failure of the system, for which a young man in Villach has now had to pay with his life,' Kickl said. 'From Austria to the EU — the wrong rules are in force everywhere. Nobody is allowed to challenge them, everything is declared sacrosanct,' he said, adding that his party had outlined what he viewed as necessary changes to immigration laws in his party's election platform. 'We need a rigorous crackdown on asylum and must not continue to import conditions like those in Villach.' Advertisement Conservative party leader Christian Stocker said on X that the attacker 'must be brought to justice and be punished with the full force of the law.' 'We all want to live in a safe Austria, adding that this means political measures need to be taken to 'avoid such acts of horror in the future,' he said. The leader of the Social Democrats, Andreas Babler, said on X that 'the full force of the law' must be used. 'Crimes like this one simply should not happen in our society.' Austria's Interior Minister Gerhard Karner was expected in Villach on Sunday morning, according to Austria's public broadcaster ORF. On Sunday, authorities planned to establish a zone in the city center for those who want to grieve. Police said it wasn't clear whether the suspect acted alone and continued to search for potential additional suspects. It wasn't immediately known whether there is any connection between the attacker and the victims. According to the Interior Ministry, 24,941 foreigners applied for asylum in Austria in 2024. The largest group of applicants was from Syria, followed by Afghanistan. Over the past two years, the number of asylum seekers has decreased significantly. In 2022, applications peaked at over 100,000, while approximately 59,000 individuals sought asylum in 2023. Several European countries, among them Austria, said in December they are suspending decisions on asylum claims by Syrian nationals because of the unclear political situation in their homeland following the fall of Bashar Assad. The issue of migration has taken center stage in many European countries, with far-right parties making inroads in elections. Advertisement In Austria, migration was a prominent topic leading up to last year's election, which resulted in the far-right Freedom Party securing its first national election victory since World War II. On Saturday, police in neighboring Germany said a 2-year-old girl and her mother died two days after being injured in a car-ramming attack during a labor union demonstration in Munich. It marked the fifth attack involving immigrants in Germany over the past nine months, with migration becoming a significant issue ahead of upcoming elections on Feb. 23.
Euronews
15-02-2025
- Politics
- Euronews
23-year-old man stabs six people, killing one in Austria, police say
A 14-year-old child was killed and four others were injured after in a random stabbing attack in the city of Villach in southern Austria on Saturday. Police say the attacker – a 23-year-old man – is a Syrian national with legal residence in Austria. The attacker randomly started stabbing passerby on the street, according to the police. Authorities are currently investigating the attacker's personal background and are looking for clues to identify a motive behind the tragic incident. The victims were all men, a 14-year-old boy who was killed and four other men who were injured, two of them sustained minor injuries while the other two suffered critical wounds. The attack happened in the Austrian province of Carinthia. Governor Peter Kaiser expressed his condolences to the family of the 14-year-old victim. 'This outrageous atrocity must be met with harsh consequences. I have always said with clarity and unambiguously: Those who live in Carinthia, in Austria, have to respect the law and adjust to our rules and values,' said Governor Kaiser. Austria's far-right leader Herbert Kickl took to social media platform X, formerly Twitter, to express his condolences to the family and underline what he believes is a pressing issue challenging Austrian society, immigration. 'I am angry, angry at those politicians who have allowed stabbings, rape, gang wars and other capital crimes to become the order of the day in Austria. This is a first-class failure of the system, for which a young man in Villach has now had to pay with his life', said Kickl in a post on his party's official page. 'We have described the complete change of system in our program for a "Fortress Austria". We need rigorous action in the area of asylum and must not continue to import conditions like those in Villach,' added Kickl. Conservative party leader Christian Stocker said on X that the attacker 'must be brought to justice and be punished with the full force of the law'. Stocker says that more political measures must be taken to avoid such horrific acts in the future and ensure a safe Austria. Austria's foreign ministry says almost 25,000 foreigners applied for asylum in 2024, with the largest group coming from Syria, followed by Afghanistan. Asylum applications have dramatically decreased over the past two years. In 2022, Austria received just over 100,000 applications. Several European countries, Austria among them, said in December that they're suspending decisions on asylum claims by Syrian nationals because of the unclear political situation in their homeland following the toppling of longtime president Bashar al-Assad in December. The issue of migration has taken centre stage across many European countries, leading to a rise in popularity of far-right parties, who've made significant inroads in elections. In Austria, migration was a prominent topic leading up to last year's election, which resulted in the far-right Freedom Party security it first national election victory since World War II.
