Vienna terror plot foiled as 14‑year-old arrested
Austrian police have thwarted a terrorist attack planned for the Westbahnhof railway station in Vienna. A 14-year-old boy was arrested and found to have plans for the attack and propaganda materials.
The Austrian Ministry of the Interior announced that investigators from the State Office for the Protection of the Constitution and Counterterrorism, together with special police units, detained the teenager on 10 February in Vienna.
He was found in possession of two knives and numerous items indicating his support for the terrorist organisation Islamic State (IS). According to the Ministry, the 14-year-old, an Austrian citizen of Turkish origin, is suspected of belonging to a terrorist group or criminal organisation.
Attack plans and handwritten instructions found in the teenager's flat
The investigators' decision was informed by reports of a previously unknown IS supporter who was disseminating Islamist videos on TikTok. The prosecutor, upon identifying the author, issued a warrant for the arrest of the 14-year-old and a search of his home. There, they discovered books with Islamist content, plans for attacks on the railway station, plans to attack police officers using knives and machetes, and handwritten instructions for making explosives.
In the flat's basement, aluminium pipes, table legs, and duct tape were found, which the Ministry stated were intended for bomb construction. In a bag belonging to the 14-year-old, a combat knife with a blade approximately 7 inches long, a folding knife with a 3-inch blade, and an IS flag were discovered. The teenager refused to provide testimony.
The arrest occurred a few days after a knife attack in Villach, where a 23-year-old Syrian asylum seeker killed one person and injured five others. Law enforcement authorities have identified the perpetrator as an Islamist, classifying the attack as a religiously motivated act of terror.
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