Austrian authorities arrested a 14-year-old on suspicion of preparing a militant attack on a Vienna train station, Austria’s Interior Ministry revealed. It called the suspect an Islamic State advocate who became a radical one online.
In the southern town of Villach, a knife attack was reported following a stabbing. In the attack, a 23-year-old Syrian refugee is supposed to kill a teenager and injure five people. That man was rapidly radicalised after observing Islamist videos on TikTok, Austrian authorities have stated.
“Domestic intelligence and the police have prevented a terrorist attack in Vienna,” the ministry added. “The suspect is 14 years old, an Austrian citizen with Turkish roots, and he became radicalized on the internet.”
The ministry expressed he had been planning an episode on the Westbahnhof station. This striking mid-20th-century building is the departure point for lines that include a private train company’s service to cities such as Salzburg and Innsbruck.
During a search of the suspect’s home, two knives and numerous Islamist books were discovered, along with handwritten teachings for producing explosives to be utilised as a detonator for a bomb, as well as content, including aluminium pipes that were planned to be employed for bomb-making, the ministry stated.
“The Directorate for State Security and Intelligence received information that an initially unknown supporter of a terrorist organization was spreading stories and videos with Islamist ideas on several TikTok profiles,” the ministry said, explaining how the investigation began.
“After an intensive investigation the DSN was able to establish the identity of the IS supporter,” it expressed, without calling him.
Austria has also set up the Extremism Information Centre (Beratungsstelle Extremismus) to offer counselling and assistance to those at risk of radicalisation. The Austrian Strategy for Prevention and Countering Violent Extremism and Deradicalisation is an early intervention approach with community involvement to counteract radicalisation. Austria works in cooperation with other European nations via the European Union’s counter-terrorism efforts, including intelligence sharing and EU-wide sanctions against terrorist groups.
