Terror suspect linked to Berlin truck attack arrested for buying crossbow — but police can't hold him

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A suspected jihadist is being held in Germany after he was witnessed buying a powerful crossbow capable of firing a bolt at almost 152 metres a second.

A police search of his apartment found propaganda and terror manuals from Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), as well as evidence he had been preparing to make explosives.

The incident has raised concerns that extremists may turn to crossbows as a potential terror weapon.

Unlike guns, crossbows are freely available in the UK and Germany, and can be legally bought without a licence.

The 21-year-old man, named only as Ivan K under German privacy laws, was under police surveillance as an associate of Islamic preachers close to Anis Amri, the Berlin Christmas market attacker.

Prosecutors admitted they are powerless to hold him over the crossbow, because it is classed a legal piece of sports equipment. He is being detained over the material found in his apartment in the eastern city of Chemnitz.

Police acted after a surveillance team saw Ivan K buying a powerful high-performance crossbow in the west German town of Lippstadt, far from his home. When he emerged from his hotel the next day carrying the crossbow in a sports bag, he was detained.

“We knew exactly what the danger was, so we felt it was safest to take him in the next day,” a police source told Bild newspaper.

At his apartment, police found ISIL videos and evidence he had been planning to manufacture TATP, the same explosive used in the Paris and Brussels attacks. Nicknamed the “mother of Satan” by jihadists, TATP can be manufactured using readily available products such as nail polish and hair dye.

However, it is the ease with which powerful crossbows can be bought that has now set alarm bells ringing. The crossbow Ivan K bought cost $343 and can be bought in shops or over the internet.

Crossbows can be legally bought and carried in public without a licence in both the UK and Germany.

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