German police collar Syrian terror suspect after massive manhunt

German police said Monday they had arrested a Syrian man suspected of plotting a jihadist bomb attack, after a massive manhunt lasting almost two days.

“We’ve succeeded, really overjoyed: the terror suspect [Jaber] Albakr was arrested overnight in Leipzig,” police said on Twitter about the 22-year-old.

The announcement followed a nationwide search for the Syrian believed to have been preparing a bombing attack, who slipped through their fingers as they were closing in on him.

Federal police had increased security around the country, particularly around “critical infrastructure” like train stations and airports, as authorities searched for Albakr.

He was finally caught after police learnt that he had sought help from two Syrians in Leipzig, Spiegel Online reported.

Police subsequently arrested him in the early hours of Monday in the two Syrians’ apartment.

Albakr was believed to have had internet contact with the Islamic State group, Sueddeutsche Zeitung reported, but police have not commented on his possible motivation or the bomb plot’s target.

On Saturday morning, as police prepared to raid the apartment building in the eastern city of Chemnitz where Albakr was staying, he was observed leaving the premises, Saxony police spokesman Tom Bernhardt told The Associated Press Sunday.

Police fired a warning shot but were unable to stop him, Bernhardt said, confirming German media reports. They thought he had turned back into the building but wasn’t the case, he said.

Bernhardt also confirmed reports that Albakr had come to Germany in the flood of 890,000 migrants who entered the country in 2015 and had been granted asylum.

Nobody was in the apartment when police SWAT teams blew down the door Saturday, but investigators found “several hundred grams” of a volatile explosive hidden in the flat, enough to cause significant damage, Bernhardt said.

“With this highly volatile explosive, even a few hundred grams is no trifle,” he said. “For an explosive of this type, it was a considerable amount.”

He said experts were still trying to determine whether it was the same explosive used in the deadly November 13 attacks in Paris and the March 22 attacks in Brussels known as TATP, or triacetone triperoxide.

“It’s comparable to that,” he said.

TATP has been used in many attacks over the years, and is favored by violent extremists because it’s fairly easy to make and detonate.

The explosives were destroyed Saturday in a controlled detonation by bomb squad experts in a pit dug outside the five-story apartment building because they were considered too dangerous to transport.

Three people who rented the apartment were apprehended Saturday, and one of the men was was questioned as a possible co-conspirator, Bernhardt said.

He said the man in custody was Albakr’s “countryman,” but wouldn’t give other details.

The other two men were released.

Another man who knew Albakr was taken into custody for questioning Sunday afternoon in a raid on his Chemnitz apartment.

The raid came after Saxony police were given a tip from Germany’s domestic intelligence service that Albakr may be planning an attack. He had been on the agency’s radar, but Bernhardt said it was not clear how long.

Germany has been on edge since two attacks this summer claimed by the Islamic State in which multiple people were injured and both assailants died. Two other attacks unrelated to Islamic extremism, including a deadly mall shooting in Munich, have also contributed to fears.