Austrian Interior Minister Gerhard Karner said that the attack by a Syrian with a knife on passers-by in the city of Villach on February 15 was Islamist-motivated and linked to ISIS, TASS reports.

According to the politician, the attacker "became radicalized via the Internet in a very short time." Karner stressed that during this time it is very important to bring the criminal to justice, "deprive him of his freedom and deport him."

The 23-year-old native of Syria killed a 14-year-old teenager and injured at least five more people to varying degrees of severity.

In connection with the incident, Karner called for law enforcement agencies to be given more powers in the area of inspections of "specific groups" of people, in particular those who were granted asylum in Austria.

According to the Der Standard newspaper, the attacker had a residence permit in Austria and had not previously come to the attention of law enforcement agencies. The police are currently investigating whether the perpetrator had accomplices, and whether there was a connection between him and the victims of the attack.