Teen charged in Switzerland with planning IS-linked terrorist attack

The Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland (OAG) said it had charged a Swiss national with “planning a terrorist attack using a knife”.

The teenage resident of Aargau faces charges of “supporting a terrorist organisation, preparing for murder and producing, storing and possessing depictions of violence”, the OAG said in a statement.

The man, who was not identified, is suspected of planning “to commit a knife attack in the name of the Islamic State terrorist organisation”, it said, adding that “he is said to have taken the necessary steps to do so”.

He was immediately arrested after Swiss federal police informed the attorney general’s office last June that it had evidence suggesting he might be planning a terror attack, the OAG said.

But he was released from pre-trial detention last December since “the grounds for his detention were no longer met”, it said.

The OAG said its investigation had determined the defendant had from around the start of 2025 planned to carry out a “terrorist attack in the name of IS”.

The scheme had allegedly later evolved into a concrete plan to “carry out a knife attack against randomly-selected victims”, it added.

According to the charges brought, the defendant took steps to carry out his plan, including ordering a knife online, and allegedly obtaining relevant instructions and establishing contacts with like-minded individuals.

He had also researched the religious justification for such an attack, the OAG said.

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According to the statement, the man had also allegedly supported IS by disseminating propaganda videos on social media and through various financial transactions.

He also faces charges of storing and possessing depictions of violence, it said.

The office said the case had been transferred to Switzerland’s Federal Criminal Court, stressing “the presumption of innocence applies until a final judgement is rendered”.