Austrian authorities arrest teen for plotting Vienna railway station attack

A 14-year-old Austrian supporter of the so-called Islamic State group was arrested on 10 February for allegedly planning an attack at a railway station in Vienna, authorities revealed Wednesday.

The suspect, an Austrian national with Turkish roots, is said to have been radicalised online.

He was detained after Austrian intelligence services were tipped off that he had posted stories and videos with Islamist extremist content on several TikTok profiles.

Investigators found numerous extremist books as well as sketches of attacks with knives and machetes at a station, alongside handwritten instructions for making explosive material to serve as a detonator for a bomb.

The station the suspect intended to attack was identified as Westbahnhof, a major railway hub in the Austrian capital.

The arrest comes several days after a teenager was killed and five others were wounded in a stabbing in the southern Austrian town of Villach.

Authorities said the suspect in that attack, a 23-year-old Syrian national, also may have had connections to the so-called IS.