A Serbian police officer killed a man who shot him in the neck with a crossbow in front of the Israeli embassy in Belgrade, in what the prime minister called a “terrorist act”, AFP reports.

Police identified the assailant as a “convert” to Islam, who was born in 1999 in the town of Mladenovac, some 50 kilometres from Belgrade.

The attack happened around 11:00am on Saturday morning in the Serbian capital, when the attacker shot the officer who was on duty outside the Israeli embassy. The policeman “used a weapon in self-defence and defeated the attacker, who died as a result of his injuries”, said Interior Minister Ivica Dacic.

Authorities said some arrests had been made and a number of people known to the security services were suspected of being linked to the attack. Police also said they were carrying out searches in a number of locations.

The officer, who underwent surgery in hospital, was in his guard booth when the attack happened, according to authorities.