Man in France arrested in jihadi costume while carrying a fake rifle on Halloween

French police have arrested a young man celebrating Halloween dressed up as ajihadist and carrying a rifle.

France remains in a state of emergency following recent terror attacks, including a truck attack in Nice, the beheading of an elderly priest in Normandy and two major attacks in Paris in 2015. There has also been a number of intercepted plots.

Police in southern France arrested a man on 1 November after they were tipped-off my passers-by. They had described a man dressed in black and khaki, waving a rifle and shouting "Allahu Akbar" (Arabic for 'God is greatest').

When police confronted him, the 26-year-old suspect said he could not understand why he was being arrested on Halloween for dressing up as a jihadist and carrying a rifle - which turned out to be fake, a police source in Toulouse was quoted as saying in thelocal.fr.

Explaining the jihadist outfit was just a costume, the suspect told police: "You can do anything on Halloween".

A recent string of terror attacks on French soil have taken a toll on the typically tolerant nation, where fear of terrorism is now dominating life. French President Francois Hollande is under increasing pressure to tighten security measures following the attacks, and a number of festive and sports events were cancelled over the summer, for security reasons.

Police in southern France last year prohibited citizens from wearing costumes deemed as "dangerous" after a boy dressed as Mr T sparked a panic. Any outfit that includes a fake weapon is unacceptable.