Austria shaken as Syrian asylum seeker kills teenage boy in stabbing spree

A 14-year-old boy was fatally stabbed in Villach, while four others were injured

A 23-year-old Syrian asylum seeker stabbed six passers-by in the centre of the Austrian town of Villach on Saturday, killing a boy, 14, and injuring four people, police said.

The perpetrator, who was detained at the scene, had been radicalised online and was linked to ISIS, Interior Minister Gerhard Karner said on Sunday.

Further details, such as whether the attacker knew any of the victims, are yet to be established police spokesman Rainer Dionisio said. The injured were aged 14 to 32.

Mr Dionisio said two of those injured were in a serious condition in hospital.

The bloodshed in Villach followed an attack on Thursday in Munich by an Afghan citizen who drove his car into a crowd of people, injuring dozens, two of whom later died.

Such attacks are extremely rare in Austria. A terrorist killed four people in Vienna in a shooting rampage in 2020 that was the country's deadliest assault in decades.

At a press conference in the town, police chief for the state of Carinthia, Michaela Kohlweiss, confirmed the suspect had made an oath of allegiance to the extremist group ISIS. She and Mr Karner said the group's flag had been found in his apartment.

Villach is known for its carnival and is in an area that is a tourist hotspot in the summer, as one of Austria's most famous lakes is nearby, but otherwise attracts little attention.

“I have been in the [Carinthian police] press service for 20 years and cannot recall such an act,” Mr Dionisio told national broadcaster ORF.

A man, who Austrian media described as a Syrian food delivery driver, charged into the knifeman with his car to prevent him from harming more people, Mr Dionisio added.

Delivery driver Alaaeddin Alhalabi, a Syrian, was hailed a hero for ramming his vehicle into the suspect to stop the knife attack. Photo: Facebook

The attack comes at a time of political upheaval in Austria as the far-right Freedom Party, which came first in September's parliamentary election, said on Wednesday it had failed to form a coalition government. President Alexander Van der Bellen is now considering whether an alternative to a snap election is available.

Railing against illegal immigration and pledging to increase deportations to countries such as Syria and Afghanistan, to where it is illegal to deport people, are central to the Freedom Party's platform and appeal, and the party quickly seized on the Villach attack.

“We need a rigorous crackdown on asylum and cannot continue to import conditions like those in Villach,” Freedom Party leader Herbert Kickl said.