The suspects were detained close to the country's border and were being questioned, reports from Vienna say.

The Interior Ministry said they were all Chechens with Russian citizenship who had been granted asylum in Austria.

Hundreds of European extremists are known to have travelled to Syria to fight in the country's foreign-hatched war.

EU member states are trying to prevent radicalization at home and are also taking measures to tackle the security threat from extremist militants returning from Syria.

The nine people detained in Austria were arrested in the southern province of Carinthia and Burgenland in the west, reports said.

Police in Vienna were said to be deciding whether to remand them in custody.

If they are remanded, the interior ministry has said it will start the process of withdrawing their asylum status.

"There can only be a zero-tolerance policy against militants (Takfiri extremists)," Interior Minister Johanna Mikl-Leitner was quoted as saying.

NTJ/NJF