A person accused of killing a 14-year-old boy and injuring 5 different individuals in a stabbing assault in Austria was motivated by “Islamic terrorism”, say authorities.
The victims, which included two 15-year-old boys and three males aged 28, 32 and 36, had been attacked with a folding knife within the southern metropolis of Villach on Saturday. 4 of them are receiving hospital therapy and one is being handled for minor accidents.
A 23-year-old Syrian was arrested after the rampage which is being handled as an “Islamic terror incident”.
Inside minister Gerhard Karner stated the suspect had alleged ties to the Islamic State group and radicalised himself on-line inside a really brief time interval.
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Folks mild candles on the website of the stabbing. Pic: AP
IS flags had been discovered on the partitions of the suspect’s condominium throughout a search, in response to police.
Telephones had been seized however no weapons or harmful objects had been discovered, they added.
Officers are whether or not he had any accomplices however in the meanwhile they imagine he was a “lone perpetrator”.
In November 2020, 4 individuals had been killed by a gunman within the capital Vienna who was then fatally shot by police. The attacker, who had an automated rifle and a pretend explosive vest, had beforehand tried to hitch Islamic State earlier than finishing up his rampage.
‘No phrases can undo the struggling’
Talking in regards to the assault in Villach, Mr Karner advised reporters that he felt “anger about an Islamist attacker who indiscriminately stabbed innocent people here in this city”.
Austria’s president Alexander Van der Bellen referred to as the assault “horrific”, saying on social media that “no words can undo the suffering, the horror, the fear”.
Additionally, far-right chief Herbert Kickl, whose Freedom Social gathering of Austria received a nationwide election 4 months in the past, referred to as for “a rigorous crackdown on asylum” within the wake of the assault.
Reward for Syrian helper
In the meantime, a 42-year-old Syrian man helped stop the state of affairs from getting worse by driving in the direction of the suspect.
The person, who labored for a meals supply firm, was thanked by state governor Peter Kaiser.
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Austrian inside minister Gerhard Karner speaks at a information convention in Villach. Pic: Reuters
“This shows how closely terrorist evil but also human good can be united in one and the same nationality,” Mr Kaiser stated.
The Free Syrian Neighborhood of Austria has distanced itself from the assault and expressed its deepest condolences to the victims’ households.
‘Anybody who causes strife doesn’t symbolize Syrians’
In an announcement on Fb, it wrote: “We all had to flee Syria, our home country, because we were no longer safe there – no-one left their country voluntarily. We are grateful to have found asylum and protection in Austria.
“Lastly, we wish to emphasise: Anybody who causes strife and disturbs the peace of society doesn’t symbolize the Syrians who’ve sought and acquired safety right here.”
