BERLIN: An Afghan man admitted to stabbing and severely injuring a family of three and a 20-year-old compatriot in Vienna because “he was in a bad, aggressive mood and upset about his life’s situation,” Austrian police said on Thursday.

Police said in a statement that the 23-year-old said he committed all four stabbings, and denied that any of his attacks were politically motivated.

The attacker was detained shortly after the stabbing of a 20-year-old man, also from Afghanistan, on Wednesday night, police spokesman Patrick Maierhofer said.

An hour earlier, he attacked all three members of a family, the 67-year-old father, the 56-year-old mother and their 17-year-old daughter, also in the city’s downtown area.

Police said that the father was still in a critical condition, but his wife and daughter and the Afghan man were stable. All four remain in the hospital. Their names and the name of the attacker were not given.

While the attack on the Austrian family appeared random, the attacker told police he knew his fourth victim and said he specifically sought him out because “he holds him responsible for his previous drug addiction.”

Published in Dawn, March 9th, 2018