Deadly stabbing that killed 14yo boy in Villach, Austria declared ‘Islamist attack’

Police have raided a suspect’s apartment and revealed what they found inside after a 14-year-old boy was stabbed to death in Austria, and five others were injured.

A stabbing that left a 14-year-old boy dead and five other people injured in southern Austria was an “Islamist attack”, the country’s interior minister says.

A 23-year-old Syrian asylum seeker was charged with murder and attempted murder, with Interior Minister Gerhard Karner saying the suspect had been radicalised online “in a short space of time”.

“It is an Islamist attack with IS connections,” he said in Villach in Carinthia province, where the incident occurred, on Sunday.

During a raid of the suspect’s apartment, police found “clear evidence of Islamist radical thought”, such as IS flags on the wall, head of Carinthia police Michaela Kohlweiss said.

The man suspected of carrying out the knife attack in Villach, Austria. Picture: X

The man “randomly attacked passers-by with a knife” in the incident on Saturday, police spokesman Rainer Dionisio said.

Officers arrested a 23-year-old Syrian asylum seeker, he said. “One victim, a 14-year-old boy, died,” he added.

The attack came just two days after a suspected Afghan asylum seeker rammed a car into people in the city of Munich in neighbouring Germany, killing a two-year-old girl and her mother and wounding dozens of others.

Police arrest the suspect in Villach, Austria. Picture: X

Chilling images of the arrest show a grinning man with his index finger raised as police officers surround him with weapons.

The number of wounded increased from four earlier to five, including two who were seriously hurt, Dionisio said. The oldest victim was aged 36.

The incident unfolded just before 4pm local time.

People mourn at a makeshift memorial of candles and flowers placed at the site where a man randomly attacked passers-by with a knife in Villach, Austria. Picture: AFP

A passing food delivery rider — also from Syria — intervened, ramming his vehicle into the attacker, who was lightly hurt and was arrested “right after the attack”, police said.

Eyewitnesses said the attacker had shouted “Allahu Akbar” (God is greatest).

Carinthia Governor Peter Kaiser of the Social Democrats called for the “harshest consequences” for this “unbelievable atrocity”.

Police are seen after a knife attack near the main square in the city centre of Villach, southern Austria. Picture: AFP

“I have always said very clearly and unambiguously: Anyone who lives in Carinthia, in Austria, must respect the law and must adapt to our rules and values” he said.

“Anyone who violates these rules must face the harshest consequences; they must be put on trial, imprisoned and deported.”

Far-right leader Herbert Kickl - whose party won September’s national elections for the first time ever - said he was “appalled” by the attack, calling it a “system failure”.

“We need a rigorous clamp-down on asylum,” he said in a statement. Kickl’s Freedom Party (FPOe) this week failed in talks to form a government with the runner-up and incumbent conservatives.

Austria's Interior Minister Gerhard Karner (L) places a candle at the site in Villach, Austria. Picture: AFP

Austria hosts a large Syrian refugee population of almost 100,000. After Bashar al-Assad was ousted in Syria in December, Austria and several European countries froze pending asylum requests from Syrians to reassess the situation.

In addition, Austria has stopped family reunifications and sent out at least 2,400 letters to revoke refugee status.

The interior ministry has said it is preparing “an orderly repatriation and deportation program to Syria”.

Austria has so far only seen one jihadist attack, in 2020, when a convicted IS sympathiser went on a shooting rampage in downtown Vienna, killing four.

Originally published as Deadly stabbing that killed 14yo boy in Villach, Austria declared ‘Islamist attack’