Jaber al-Bakr: How Germany caught elusive Syrian 'bomb-maker'

[Valin]

BBC:

10/10/16

 

German police say a Syrian man arrested after a two-day manhunt probably had links to so-called Islamic State (IS). Jaber al-Bakr, who arrived in Germany as a refugee, was detained in a flat in the eastern city of Leipzig early on Monday. He had been tied up there. He had sought help from another Syrian, who alerted police after letting Mr al-Bakr sleep at his flat, reports say.

 

The hunt began after police found very volatile explosives at Mr al-Bakr's flat in Chemnitz, south of Leipzig. In the initial raid in Chemnitz early on Saturday, Mr al-Bakr, 22, evaded capture as officers fired a warning shot in a botched attempt to stop him.

 

"The methods and behaviour of the suspect suggest an IS context," said Saxony State Police chief Joerg Michaelis. He said the suspect had researched bomb-making on the internet. "It is reasonable to assume that an explosives belt was nearly ready, or had been prepared already," he said. Police found a detonator, explosives and a kilo of chemicals in the Chemnitz flat. Mr Michaelis said the substance appeared to be TATP, a homemade explosive used in the deadly jihadist attacks in Paris last year and Brussels in March.

 

(Snip)