A STABBING attack on six people that left a 14-year-old boy dead was carried out by a man with possible connections to Isis, Austrian authorities said yesterday.

The suspect, a 23-year-old Syrian, appeared to have acted alone in the attack, which took place on Saturday afternoon near the main square of Villach, a southern city.

Police said the suspect used a folding knife.

Among the injured were two 15-year-old boys and three men aged 28, 32 and 36.

“This is an Islamist attack with an [Isis] connection by an attacker who radicalised himself within a very short time via the internet,” Interior Minister Gerhard Karner said yesterday.

State Governor Peter Kaiser praised a 42-year-old Syrian food delivery worker who intervened by driving towards the suspect, helping to prevent further casualties.

As the attack reignited tense debates over migration and asylum policies, Mr Karner suggested that a broader security screening would be necessary, but did not provide further details.

Authorities confirmed that the suspect had a residence permit but did not clarify how long he had been in Austria.

Austria’s far-right leader Herbert Kickl, whose party won a national election four months ago, called for “a rigorous crackdown on asylum” following the attack.

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He argued that, since other parties had failed to implement stricter asylum policies, his party must control the Interior Ministry in any future government.

It comes after coalition talks collapsed for a second time last week when Mr Kickl’s party and the conservative People’s Party could not agree on who would oversee the ministry.

State police director Michaela Kohlweiss said police searched the suspect’s apartment, finding Isis flags on the walls.