Austrian officials condemned Saturday’s attack on Saturday’s 23-year-old Syrian in Villach in the Austrian Federal Country of Carinthia and Interior Minister Gerhard Karner described it as “Islamist”. A 14-year-old boy died in the incident and five other people suffered injuries. Three of them are in an intensive care unit, TASR writes, according to AFP, Reuters and AP reports.
Karner said on Sunday that He feels “anger over an Islamist attacker who … no matter how innocent people”. According to him, the Syrian had ties to the Islamic State group and “in a short time” was radicalized on the Internet.
The Austrian President condemned the attack on social network X and expressed his condolences to the victim’s family. “No words can reverse suffering, horror and fear. I am in my thoughts with the family of the deceased victim and injured,” wrote in the post.
The leader of the far right -wing free party of Austria (FPÖ) Herbert Kickl said that is from the attack “horrified” and called for “strict restriction asylum” in the country. The anti -immigration measures have been demanding his party for a long time and have been one of the causes of the FPÖ coalition conversations with the Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP).
The attack took place in the center of Villach in the south of Austria about 360 kilometers from Vienna. The perpetrator, a Syrian citizen with a residence permit in Austria, attacked several passers -by with a knife around 4 pm. A 14-year-old boy succumbed stabbing injuries and five others suffered injuries. These are between the ages of 15 to 36 and besides the oldest of them – Turk – are all Austrians.
According to the DPA agency, the attacking Syrian was stopped by a food service worker with food – also from Syria who hit him at the crime scene by car. “It shows how closely the terrorist evil can be, but also the human good linked in one and the same nationality,” The Carinthian Landscape Prime Minister Peter Kaiser said. The perpetrator was detained by the Austrian police shortly after the crime.
