The Islamic State, ISIS, has claimed that it inspired the Berlin Christmas Market attack which killed 12 people and left 45 others injured.
ISIS released a statement on Tuesday through its Amaq news agency claiming the driver of the truck as “a soldier” who had answered the call to wage war against countries fighting the group. However it did not go into details about the driver’s identity or whether he had directly interacted with the group or was just sympathetic to it.
The attacker has left the German Police embarrassed, as it has turned out that he is still at large. The development is causing apprehension among Berliners, considering the fact that is he armed. Recall that he shot dead the Polish driver of the truck before he ploughed it into the Christmas market.
Meanwhile, the Pakistani man, who was originally arrested in connection with the attack, has been released by German prosecutors without charge.
Berlin’s police chief, Mr. Klaus Kandt, has urged locals to remain vigilant as the person behind the attack is a loose canon in the city.
“It is the case that we may have a dangerous criminal in the area and that of course makes the public nervous,” he said.
“We have to think that the person who was arrested yesterday, a man of Pakistani nationality, we have to be open to the idea that he could possibly not have been the attacker.”
Earlier, a sombre and black-clothed German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who is being blamed for the attack due to her refugee policy, has visited the scene of the rampage where she laid a wreath.
Merkel said that she is simply horrified and sad by what happened, especially by the fact that it was perpetrated by someone who came to Germany to seek refuge and also got one and the support of the German people, who have done much for refugees.
“We must assume at the current time that it was a terrorist attack,” Ms. Merkel told reporters on Tuesday.
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