The Syrian migrant who cackled as he stabbed a 14-year-old boy to death in Austria has been revealed to have applied for asylum in the country to avoid being drafted into Bashar al-Assad’s military.
The 23-year-old man, named locally as Ahmad G., allegedly shouted ‘Allahu Akbar’ before launching into a vicious attack just before 4pm on Saturday afternoon.
Spine-chilling images captured the suspect was seen grinning at police officers while they surrounded him with weapons during his arrest in Villach, near the borders with Italy and Slovenia.
The assault, which is believed to have lasted less than 10 minutes, saw five other people wounded and two of these rushed to hospital with serious injuries.
Austria’s Interior Minister Gerhard Karner said on Sunday that it was an ‘Islamist attack with IS connections’ – and added the suspect was radicalised online ‘in a short space of time’, with the region’s police chief saying the killer had sworn allegiance to IS.
It has now been revealed that Ahmad arrived in Austria in 2020, and was granted asylum the following year after successfully arguing that he would be drafted into military service in Syria, which was still being run by murderous dictator Bashar al-Assad.
Austria’s Federal Office for Immigration and Asylum said today that asylum revocation proceedings have been initiated, meaning he is likely to lose his protected status.
It was also revealed that he served four days in a German prison, after being found with a fake ID on him as he visited relatives in the country.
The 23-year-old man, named locally as Ahmad G. (pictured), allegedly shouted ‘Allahu Akbar’ before launching into a vicious attack
Austria’s Interior Minister Gerhard Karner places a candle on February 16, 2025 at the site where a man randomly attacked passers-by with a knife and stabbed to death a teenager and wounded five other people in Villach, Austria
According to the Salzburger Nachrichten, the 23-year-old bought the folding knife with which he attacked innocent bystanders just three days earlier before the attack.
As of Monday, he is in the Klagenfurt prison. Despite his proclaimed links to ISIS, investigators said he carried out the attack on his own.
Saturday’s horror was only brought to a close when a food delivery driver, who is also from Syria, witnessed the attacks and bravely intervened.
Heroic Alaaeddin Alhalabi, 42, aimed his car at the knifeman, hitting him with his vehicle in a desperate attempt to end the bloodshed before police closed in.
Speaking to local press about the attack, Mr Alhalabi said: ‘I was just about to pick up an order in Lederergasse when I saw all the blood and two injured people lying on the ground’.
‘He wanted to go towards the city centre, there were children on the street – I couldn’t let that happen’.
The Austrian knife 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. The president is now considering whether an alternative to a snap election is available.
Railing against illegal immigration and pledging to increase deportations to countries like Syria and Afghanistan, which it is currently illegal to deport people to, are central to the Freedom Party’s platform and appeal, and the party quickly seized on the Villach attack.
Austria’s Interior Minister Gerhard Karner (left) said on Sunday that it was an ‘Islamist attack with IS connections’ – and added the suspect was radicalised online ‘in a short space of time
Candles have been lit at the site of the stabbing attack in Villach, Austria
People have been seen mourning and comforting each other todayat a makeshift memorial of candles and flowers placed near the scene of the rampage
‘We need a rigorous crackdown on asylum and cannot continue to import conditions like those in Villach,’ Freedom Party leader Herbert Kickl said in a statement.
According to the Austrian Ministry of Interior, 24,941 foreigners applied for asylum in Austria in 2024. The largest group of applicants comes from Syria, followed by Afghanistan.
Over the past two years, the number of asylum seekers has decreased significantly. In 2022, applications peaked at over 100,000, while approximately 59,000 individuals sought asylum in 2023.
Several European countries, among them Austria, said in December they are suspending decisions on asylum claims by Syrian nationals because of the unclear political situation in their homeland following the fall of Bashar Assad.
Peter Kaiser, the governor of the Austrian province of Carinthia, spoke of Saturday’s horrific attack in an X post this evening.
‘The unbelievable atrocity in Villach must have the harshest consequences! Anyone who lives in Carinthia, in Austria, must respect the law. Anyone who violates this must face the harshest consequences’, he wrote.
Erwin Angerer, a lawmaker for the far-right Freedom Party, said his party had been warning about the situation in Austria as a result of the country’s ‘disastrous asylum policy.’
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Publish date : 2025-02-17 12:39:00
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