The alleged attacker, a Pakistani-born refugee, has denied involvement in the attack and police now wonder if they have the right person in detention [Xinhua]
German officials are investigating whether there is a “refugee link” to the terrorist attack which killed at least 12 people in Berlin late Monday night after a truck crashed into a Christmas market a few miles away from Chancellor Angela Merkel’s office.
Forty-eight others were injured, hospital sources said.
Merkel on Tuesday said she was “horrified, shaken and deeply saddened” by the attack, however, she urged people not to jump to conclusions and to not succumb to fear.
The suspected driver of the truck was arrested a short distance from the scene, and local media reports that he is a 23-year-old Pakistani citizen who arrived in Germany a year ago. However, German police said they could not confirm if he was the attacker after he denied any involvement in the attack.
A man was found shot dead in the passenger seat and was reportedly the cousin of the truck’s owner, Ariel Zurawski.
The truck had Polish license plates and Deutsche Welle reports that the owner believes the truck to have been hijacked.
The possible refugee link comes at a tense time as Merkel defends Germany’s policies on refugees and immigration.
If it is determined that there is a refugee link, Merkel said that many Germans would be aghast that a policy of helping those in need around the world was being used to inflict terror.
“It would be appalling to the many people who are indeed needing our protection and are making an effort to integrate in our country,” she said.
Earlier, the Islamic State claimed responsibility for two terror attacks in Ansbach and Wurzburg.
The BRICS Post with inputs from Agencies
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