Austria says stabbing attack suspect swore allegiance to Daesh

Austria's Interior Minister Gerhard Karner (L) 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. (AFP)
Austria's Interior Minister Gerhard Karner (L) 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. (AFP)
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Updated 16 February 2025
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Austria says stabbing attack suspect swore allegiance to Daesh

Austria says stabbing attack suspect swore allegiance to Daesh
  • Daesh calling for lone wolf attacks in America and Europe following a New Year attack in New Orleans, according to SITE Intelligence.
  • Daesh has not claimed responsibility for the attack so far

VILLACH: The Syrian asylum-seeker suspected of carrying out a deadly stabbing rampage in the Austrian town of Villach had sworn allegiance to Daesh and was radicalized online, authorities said on Sunday.
A 14-year-old boy was killed in Saturday afternoon’s attack in the center of Villach and five other people were wounded, three of whom are in intensive care, police said.
Interior Minister Gerhard Karner told a press conference in Villach that the 23-year-old Syrian man, who was arrested seven minutes after the first call to the police, had been rapidly radicalized on the internet and that the Daesh flag had been found in his apartment.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Police said the man, who is being charged with murder and attempted murder, had recorded himself swearing an oath of allegiance to Daesh.

• More harm would have been done had it not been for another Syrian, a food delivery driver, who saw the attacker and drove into him with his vehicle to stop him, authorities said.

Karner, a conservative, told reporters there was sadness and sympathy for the victims, then added: “But in these moments there’s also understandably often anger and rage. Anger at an attacker who randomly stabbed innocent people here in this town.”
Police said the man, who is being charged with murder and attempted murder, had recorded himself swearing an oath of allegiance to Daesh.
More harm would have been done had it not been for another Syrian, a food delivery driver, who saw the attacker and drove into him with his vehicle to stop him, authorities said.
Daesh has not claimed responsibility for the attack so far. However, the media section of Daesh’s Afghan branch, Daesh-K, recently circulated a post by Daesh calling for lone wolf attacks in America and Europe following a New Year attack in New Orleans, according to SITE Intelligence.
The bloodshed in Villach followed the thwarting of a plot in August to carry out a suicide attack at a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna by a teenager who had also sworn loyalty to Daesh.

 


Macron says a proposed European force for Ukraine could ‘respond’ if attacked by Russia

Macron says a proposed European force for Ukraine could ‘respond’ if attacked by Russia
Updated 40 sec ago
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Macron says a proposed European force for Ukraine could ‘respond’ if attacked by Russia

Macron says a proposed European force for Ukraine could ‘respond’ if attacked by Russia
“If there was again a generalized aggression against Ukrainian soil, these armies would be under attack and then it’s our usual framework of engagement,” Macron said
“Our soldiers, when they are engaged and deployed, are there to react and respond to the decisions of the commander in chief”

PARIS: French President Emmanuel Macron said Wednesday that a proposed European armed force for possible deployment in Ukraine in tandem with an eventual peace deal could “respond” to a Russian attack if Moscow launched one.
Macron spoke in the evening after talks with Ukraine’s president and ahead of a summit in Paris of some 30 nations on Thursday that will discuss the proposed force for Ukraine.
“If there was again a generalized aggression against Ukrainian soil, these armies would be under attack and then it’s our usual framework of engagement,” Macron said. “Our soldiers, when they are engaged and deployed, are there to react and respond to the decisions of the commander in chief and, if they are in a conflict situation, to respond to it.”
Macron. has been driving coalition-building efforts for a Ukraine force with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer. it is still far from clear exactly what kind of aid they are preparing that could contribute toward their goal of making any ceasefire with Russia lasting.
Macron is expecting 31 delegations around the table Thursday morning at the presidential Elysee Palace. That’s more than Macron gathered for a first meeting in Paris in February — evidence that the coalition to help Ukraine, possibly with boots on the ground, is gathering steam, according to the presidential office.
The big elephant in the room will be the country that’s missing: the United States.
US President Donald Trump’s administration has shown no public enthusiasm for the coalition’s discussions about potentially sending troops into Ukraine after an eventual ceasefire to help make peace stick. Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, has dismissed the idea of a European deployment or even the need for it.
“It’s a combination of a posture and a pose and a combination of also being simplistic,” he said in an interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson.
That’s not the view in Europe. The shared premise upon which the coalition is being built is that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s actions in Ukraine — starting with the illegal seizure of the Crimean Peninsula in 2014 and culminating in the 2022 full-scale invasion that unleashed all-out war — shows that he cannot be trusted.
They believe that any peace deal will need to be backed up by security guarantees for Ukraine, to deter Putin from launching another attempt to seize it.

Rubio says US to examine Russia conditions, peace to ‘take time’

Rubio says US to examine Russia conditions, peace to ‘take time’
Updated 21 min 8 sec ago
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Rubio says US to examine Russia conditions, peace to ‘take time’

Rubio says US to examine Russia conditions, peace to ‘take time’
  • “It’ll take some time, but at least we’re on that road,” Rubio said
  • The Kremlin said Wednesday that a revival of a deal on Black Sea shipping was subject to “a number of conditions“

KINGSTON, Jamaica: Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Wednesday the United States will examine Russia’s requested conditions for agreements with Ukraine, but cautioned that a peace deal would take time.
“It won’t be simple. It’ll take some time, but at least we’re on that road and we’re talking about these things,” Rubio told a news conference in Jamaica.
Russia and Ukraine agreed in parallel separate talks with US envoys in Saudi Arabia to halt strikes in the Black Sea, as President Donald Trump pushes for an end to the war.
The Kremlin said Wednesday that a revival of a deal on Black Sea shipping was subject to “a number of conditions” and that Russia was discussing sanctions relief from the United States.
“We’re going to evaluate that. Some of those conditions include sanctions that are not ours. They belong to the European Union,” Rubio said.
He said that the US negotiators would meet and “then we’ll present that to the president, who will ultimately make a decision about what the next step” is.
“I think it’s a good thing that we have both the Ukrainians and the Russians talking about ceasefires, be they energy or be they potentially in the Black Sea,” Rubio said.
Rubio had earlier called on Russia to accept without preconditions a proposed 30-day general ceasefire agreed by Ukraine.
French President Emmanuel Macron, meanwhile, renewed the call on Russia to accept without conditions and said it was “much too early” to consider lifting sanctions.


Poland to adopt decree suspending right to seek asylum

Poland to adopt decree suspending right to seek asylum
Updated 54 min 58 sec ago
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Poland to adopt decree suspending right to seek asylum

Poland to adopt decree suspending right to seek asylum
  • “This evening the government will adopt a decree suspending the right to apply for asylum,” Tusk said
  • The Polish senate voted through the bill earlier this month

WARSAW: Poland’s government will on Wednesday suspend the right to seek asylum, the prime minister said, as the European Union member faces irregular migrant arrivals from neighboring Belarus.
Poland and other EU states along the bloc’s eastern edge have accused Russia and its ally Belarus of orchestrating a campaign of pushing thousands of migrants over their borders in recent years.
“This evening the government will adopt a decree suspending the right to apply for asylum. Just as I announced — without delay,” Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on social media platform X.
The announcement came after Poland’s President Andrzej Duda — allied with the right-wing opposition — announced he signed into law a bill allowing the government to temporarily limit asylum rights.
The Polish senate voted through the bill earlier this month.
The legislation also provided for the possibility of extending the restriction with parliament’s approval.
The European Union last year said member states bordering Russia and Belarus were allowed to limit the right of asylum for migrants in the event of their “weaponization” by Moscow and Minsk.
In December, Tusk called the bill a move to take back “control of Poland’s borders.”
But the measures were met with outrage from human rights groups.
Last month, Human Rights Watch urged the Polish parliament to reject the bill that it said “flies in the face of Poland’s international and EU obligations.”


US conducts strikes against Daesh group: Somali govt

US conducts strikes against Daesh group: Somali govt
Updated 26 March 2025
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US conducts strikes against Daesh group: Somali govt

US conducts strikes against Daesh group: Somali govt
  • US targeted hideouts of Daesh group in the Golis mountains in Puntland region

MOGADISHU: The United States and Somalia have conducted air strikes on Daesh group targets in northern Somalia, the Somali federal government said Wednesday.
The extremist group has a relatively small presence in the east African country compared to the Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Shabab, but experts have warned of growing activity.
A coordinated operation led by the United States African Command (AFRICOM) with the federal government had targeted “known hideouts of Daesh terrorists” based in the Golis mountains in the semi-autonomous Puntland region, Mogadishu said.
The strikes were carried out Tuesday night, a short statement said, adding initial reports “suggest that multiple Daesh fighters were killed, with no civilian casualties reported.” No further details were given.
Puntland authorities have not commented on the strikes.
The statement said the strikes complemented a “larger counter-terrorism initiative” currently being undertaken by local forces in the Al-Miskeed mountain range.
The Puntland Defense Forces have been carrying out operations in the region against Daesh since December, with the extremist group said to have established a presence in the Golis mountains.
It follows US strikes in February, which Puntland authorities said had killed “key figures” in Daesh, without giving further details.


Four US soldiers died in Lithuania, NATO’s Rutte says

Four US soldiers died in Lithuania, NATO’s Rutte says
Updated 26 March 2025
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Four US soldiers died in Lithuania, NATO’s Rutte says

Four US soldiers died in Lithuania, NATO’s Rutte says
  • The soldiers had been training near Pabrade in eastern Lithuania

STOCKHOLM: Four United States Army soldiers have died in Lithuania during training, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said while visiting Warsaw on Wednesday.
“Whilst I was speaking the news came out about four American soldiers who were killed in an incident in Lithuania,” Rutte told reporters, adding that he did not know any details.
Lithuania’s military earlier on Wednesday said they were searching for four US soldiers and a tracked vehicle which had gone missing on Tuesday afternoon.
The soldiers had been training near Pabrade in eastern Lithuania near the border with Belarus, the US Army said in a statement.
“The soldiers, all from 1st Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division, were conducting scheduled tactical training at the time of the incident,” the statement read.