A 14-year-old was arrested in Vienna on February 10 for allegedly planning a militant attack at a train station, announced the Austrian Interior Ministry on Wednesday. The suspect, identified as an Islamic State supporter who became radicalized online, was described by authorities as an Austrian with Turkish roots.
This development comes after a deadly incident on Saturday in the southern town of Villach, where a 23-year-old Syrian refugee is suspected of killing a teenager and injuring five others. Austrian officials stated that the perpetrator had been radicalized after viewing Islamist content on TikTok.
Describing the foiled attack, the Ministry highlighted that the suspect had intended to target the Westbahnhof station, a landmark mid-20th century structure serving as a departure point for various train services, including routes to cities like Salzburg and Innsbruck.
Upon searching the suspect's residence, authorities found a collection of Islamist literature, two knives, hand-written bomb-making instructions, and materials, such as aluminum pipes, designed for constructing explosives. The Ministry shared that the investigation was initiated based on information received by the Directorate for State Security and Intelligence (DSN) regarding the suspect's dissemination of Islamist content on TikTok.
Following a thorough investigation, the DSN successfully identified the IS supporter, although the suspect's name was not disclosed.