On February 15, 2025, this refugee of Kurdish origin had carried out a knife attack on one of the streets of Villach. A 14-year-old teenager was killed in the back and five other people were injured
A 24-year-old Syrian was sentenced to life in prison in Austria for an attack that caused the death of a teenager and injuries to five other people in February 2025.
The decision is not final, although the convicted man has waived his appeal, as the Austrian Public Prosecutor’s Office formally has three days to make an appeal.
On February 15, 2025, this refugee of Kurdish origin had carried out a knife attack, invoking the Islamic State (IS) organization, on one of the streets of Villach, in southern Austria.
A 14-year-old teenager was killed in the back and five other people, under the age of 33, were injured.
The court found him guilty of murder, five attempted murders and terrorist crimes.
Considering the antecedents, the way of acting (surprise attacks), the presence of minors among the victims, the lack of repentance, the religious motive and the risk of repetition, the Public Prosecutor’s Office asked the jury to make full use of the sentence scale.
This Syrian had obtained asylum in Austria in 2020, to escape military service, after which he became radicalized from 2024 onwards, through watching videos on the social network TikTok.
Two days before the attack, he swore allegiance to IS.
During the attack he had been detected by a courier, also from Syria, who hit him with his vehicle.
According to his statement to the police, after being arrested, he regretted not having achieved his objective of killing at least a dozen people and dying during the operation.
In 2020, another man claiming to be IS had fired shots in the center of Vienna, killing four people.
