Berlin attack: the driver of the truck may still be on the run

The attack on a Christmas market in Berlin left at least 12 dead and 48 wounded on Monday. In the aftermath of the tragedy, the inhabitants of the city pay tribute to the victims. 

Angela Merkel called on Tuesday a "terrorist act" the crazy run of a truck in the crowd of a Christmas market, which made the day before 12 dead and 48 injured, traumatizing the country and reviving the controversy surrounding its policy Of immigration. This drama, which mobilized all night investigators and rescuers around the heavy weight and inanimate victims lying around, recalls by its circumstances the attack on the ram truck of 14 July in Nice in France on the evening of the national holiday (86 Deaths). The German Chancellor spoke of a "terrorist attack" and suggested that her perpetrator was probably an asylum seeker. "I know that this would be particularly difficult for us if it is confirmed that this act was committed by a person who asked Germany for protection and asylum," she said.

According to Bild, the truck driver who drove his vehicle on the crowd at one of the busiest Christmas markets in the German capital is a 23-year-old Pakistani. He would have followed the Balkan route to Germany as an asylum seeker in February 2016, from Pakistan or Afghanistan. While the investigation was handed over to the anti-terrorist prosecutor's office, the police conducted searches Tuesday morning in one of Berlin's major refugee centers, in the former airport Tempelhof, report several German media. The suspect, arrested Monday evening shortly after the incident, may have stayed there. Angela Merkel immediately saw the criticisms about her generous immigration policy redoubling. "These are the deaths of Merkel!", Denounced on his Twitter account one of the leaders of the right-wing populist party Alternative for Germany (AFD), Marcus Pretzell. "Germany is no longer safe" against "radical Islamist terrorism," added AFD's leading figure, Frauke Petry, by challenging the Chancellor's decision to open the doors of the In the summer of 2015 to nearly 900,000 refugees fleeing war and misery, most of them from the Muslim world. An additional 300,000 arrived in 2016.

Shot dead

A provisional record of the drama of Monday evening reported at least "12 deaths" and 48 people hospitalized, some in a serious condition. There was no indication of the identity of the victims. One of them, found in the cab of the truck, is a Polish national "shot dead", perhaps the driver of the vehicle to which he was stolen, according to a spokesman for the regional ministry Inside. The flags of the public buildings have been lowered to half-mast and a memorial ceremony is to be held at 11:00 am GMT at St. Hedwig's Cathedral, in the center of the city. "I just saw this gigantic black truck that darkened through the market and knocked down so many people, then all the lights went out and everything was destroyed," said an Australian tourist, Trisha O'Neill.

There were "blood and bodies everywhere", including children and elderly people, she added. "We were seeing people being transported to ambulances over and over again, and it never seemed to end," Sabrina Glinz told Britain's Sky News. The drama took place at the foot of the Remembrance Church, a lighthouse monument in the west of the German capital with the bell-tower disembowelled by the bombing of the Second World War. The truck was evacuated on Tuesday morning.

"Using a large vehicle"

Solidarity reactions have multiplied, from France to the United States, while Europe is regularly the target of attacks claimed by jihadist groups. Russian President Vladimir Putin said he was "shocked" by the "brutality and cynicism" of the attack. The drama of Berlin recalls the attack of Nice in France in July, when a Tunisian had darkened with his heavy weight on the Promenade of the English for almost two kilometers. He killed 86 people and injured more than 400 people before being shot dead by the police. This attack was claimed by the Islamic State Organization (EI).

The use of vehicles, especially trucks, to rush into crowds of "disbelievers" and make as many victims as possible is long advocated by jihadist groups. In his web magazine Inspire, in September 2014, the Al-Qaeda group in the Arabian Peninsula (Aqpa) wrote: "The idea is to use a large vehicle. You can take a pick-up, the biggest is To do maximum damage, you will have to drive as quickly as possible, keeping control of the vehicle to have maximum inertia and be able to knock down as many people as possible. "

Germany had so far been spared major jihadist attacks, but several Islamist attacks have recently been committed by isolated individuals. The IA claimed two separate attacks in July that resulted in several wounded, one bombed and one stabbed, committed by a 27-year-old Syrian and a 17-year-old asylum seeker, Probably Afghan.

The Berlin police said on Tuesday not to be certain that the man arrested Monday, a Pakistani asylum seeker, is the driver of the truck responsible for the bloody attack on a Christmas market that left 12 dead and 48 wounded. 

Police in Berlin said Tuesday not be certain that the Pakistani asylum seeker was arrested the truck driver responsible for the bloody attack on a Christmas market and called on citizens to "vigilance". The suspect is "a priori" a Pakistani who arrived in Germany on 31 December 2015 by the Balkan route and "registered in Berlin in February" as an asylum seeker, told the press at midday the Minister of the Interior , Thomas de Maiziere. "He denies the crime. The investigation is continuing, "he said, adding that there was no" claim for the moment "of the Islamic State organization.

"We have the bad man," says a source within the police

But shortly afterwards, Berlin police boss Klaus Kandt acknowledged that it was actually "not certain" that the man arrested "be the driver" of the murderous truck. Police at the same time called "vigilance" on Twitter, suggesting that the perpetrator may still be on the run.

An anonymous source in the Berlin police told Die Welt: "We have the bad man". "The real assailant is still at liberty and armed and can cause further damage," she added. The confusion remains very great in the aftermath of the attack in the German capital. The suspect was arrested shortly after the incident, after being pursued walk two kilometers by a witness who guided the police by telephone , said the newspaper "Die Welt".

While the investigation was handed over to the anti-terrorist prosecutor's office, the police conducted searches Tuesday morning in one of Berlin's major refugee centers, in the former airport Tempelhof, report several German media. The suspect may have stayed there.

"He wanted to roll on people"

The drama took place at the foot of the Remembrance Church, a lighthouse monument in the west of the German capital with the bell-tower disembowelled by the bombing of the Second World War. The truck, windscreen destroyed by shocks, was removed Tuesday morning. "He literally pulverized the first wooden hut," N1 told a Bosnian based in Berlin, Lana Sefovac, who had a drink with her parents. "He drove directly on us, but at one point he turned because he did not aim at our hut but the crowd. He wanted to roll over people. " Frenzied by the high-speed trailer, his parents fell but managed to get up. "Absolutely everyone was shocked, (...) we all tried to find our relatives and friends. A minute earlier, they drank hot wine together, and immediately after they lay blood on the ground. "

A provisional record shows at least 12 deaths and 48 people hospitalized. "Few victims have been identified" and 18 of the wounded are in serious condition, said Thomas De Maizière. One of the deceased, found in the cab of the truck, is a Polish national shot to death, possibly the driver of the vehicle to which it was stolen.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel described the attack on the truck Monday night at a Christmas market in Berlin as a "terrorist act". She made at least twelve dead and 48 wounded.

She took time for reflection and knew the course of events to express herself on television. German Chancellor Angela Merkel called on Tuesday a "terrorist act" the crazy run of a truck in the crowd of a Christmas market in Berlin, which made according to the latest record 12 dead and 48 wounded on Monday night.

"I know that this would be particularly difficult for us if it is confirmed that this act was committed by a person who asked Germany for protection and asylum," she said. "It would be particularly odious for all those Germans who are engaged day after day to help refugees and for all those people who need our protection every day and strive to integrate," she added

Mrs. Merkel, who said he was "horrified, shocked and very sad", implicitly confirmed that the suspect arrested the day before shortly after the incident was an asylum seeker. The Chancellor has promised that the light will be "made on every detail, and that (the crime) will be punished with all the firmness of our laws." Mrs Merkel also said that she would go in the afternoon to the scene of the attack, a Christmas market at the foot of one of the most famous monuments of Berlin.

According to Bild, the truck driver who drove his vehicle on the crowd at one of the busiest Christmas markets in the German capital is a 23-year-old Pakistani. He would have followed the Balkan route to Germany as an asylum seeker in February 2016, from Pakistan or Afghanistan.

While the investigation was handed over to the anti-terrorist prosecutor's office, the police conducted searches Tuesday morning in one of Berlin's major refugee centers, in the former airport Tempelhof, report several German media. The suspect, arrested Monday evening shortly after the incident, may have stayed there.

Criticized within his own party

"These are the deaths of Merkel!" Denounced one of the leaders of the Alternative movement for Germany (AFD), Marcus Pretzell, on his Twitter account. "Germany is no longer safe" against the "terrorism of radical Islam", echoed the figurehead of the AfD, Frauke Petry, challenging the decision of the German Chancellor to open The doors of the country to migrants and asylum seekers in the summer of 2015. The Islamist threat "has been imported in a systematic and irresponsible way in the past year and a half," she denounced.

Critics are not limited to the populist right. The carnage in Berlin awakened those of the Bavarian branch of the conservative party of Angela Merkel, the CSU, which for more than a year has denounced the arrival of refugees and claims, with no result so far, that an annual ceiling is On the number of asylum seekers allowed to enter Germany.

"We must now question the risks that the arrival of a large number of refugees in the country is causing for us," warned Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann of Bavaria. Opinion can not accept "that we continue with a situation where we have increased risks of attacks from people inspired by radical Islamism," he denounced.