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AFP, BERLIN: German police on Wednesday stepped up their hunt for the driver of a truck that ploughed through a Berlin Christmas market, in a deadly assault claimed by the Islamic State jihadist group.<\/p>\nAFP, BERLIN: German police on Wednesday stepped up their hunt for the driver of a truck that ploughed through a Berlin Christmas market, in a deadly assault claimed by the Islamic State jihadist group.<\/p>\n
The sole suspect\u2014a 23-year-old Pakistani asylum seeker\u2014was released late Tuesday for lack of evidence, prompting fears of a killer on the loose and further rattling nerves in a shocked country.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can\u2019t rule out that the perpetrator is on the run,\u201d Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere told public broadcaster ZDF.<\/p>\n
Twelve people were killed when the Polish-registered articulated truck, laden with steel beams, slammed into the crowded holiday market on Monday, smashing wooden stalls and crushing victims.<\/p>\n
Twenty-four remained in hospital, 14 of whom were seriously injured, according to de Maiziere.<\/p>\n
The scenes instantly revived nightmarish memories of the July 14 truck assault in the French Riviera city of Nice, where 86 people were killed by a Tunisian Islamist.<\/p>\n
The IS-linked Amaq news agency said \u201ca soldier of the Islamic State\u201d carried out the Berlin carnage \u201cin response to appeals to target citizens of coalition countries\u201d.<\/p>\n
There was no evidence to back the claim, nor was the perpetrator identified.<\/p>\n
Germany is part of a US-led coalition fighting IS in Iraq and Syria.<\/p>\n
De Maiziere said several lines of inquiry were being pursued, but \u201cwe should let the security services do their job.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo-one will rest until the perpetrator or perpetrators have been caught,\u201d he told ARD public television.<\/p>\n
The attack comes at a sensitive time for Chancellor Angela Merkel who is running for a fourth term in 2017 but has faced strong criticism over her decision last year to open the country\u2019s borders to refugees.<\/p>\n
In a blow to investigators, federal prosecutors announced they had to release the only suspect in custody after finding no forensic evidence to link him to Germany\u2019s deadliest attack in recent years.<\/p>\n
The Pakistani man was arrested late Monday after he was reportedly seen jumping out of the truck and fleeing the scene.<\/p>\n
But officials had expressed growing doubts over whether they had the right suspect in custody, and he denied the charges under repeated questioning.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe may have a dangerous criminal in the area,\u201d Berlin\u2019s police chief Klaus Kandt said, adding that security would be boosted while urging \u201cheightened vigilance\u201d.<\/p>\n
Following the suspect\u2019s release, Kandt told ARD television \u201cone or more\u201d perpetrators were believed to be on the run and possibly armed.<\/p>\n
Police said they were chasing up more than 500 tips from the public and examining DNA traces found in the cab of the truck.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am fairly confident that we will have a new suspect tomorrow or very soon,\u201d the head of the BDK police union, Andre Schulz, told ZDF late Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Images from the aftermath of the rampage showed the mangled truck with its windscreen smashed, a trail of destruction in its wake, while survivors recounted harrowing stories of near misses and bloody carnage.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
AFP, BERLIN: German police on Wednesday stepped up their hunt for the driver of a truck that ploughed through a Berlin Christmas market, in a deadly assault claimed by the Islamic State jihadist group. The sole suspect\u2014a 23-year-old Pakistani asylum seeker\u2014was released late Tuesday for lack of evidence, prompting fears of a killer on the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":29006,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[14],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\t\n