Berlin police ‘seeking Tunisian man’ in connection with attack

Police are searching for a Tunisian man in connection with the truck attack on a Berlin Christmas market that killed 12 people on Monday, German media are reporting. Der Spiegel reported that police had found an identity document under the driver’s seat of the truck in the name of Anis A, born in Tataouine in 1992, and that the suspect was believed to use different names. The documents announced a stay of deportation, Der Spiegel, Allgemeine Zeitung and Bild reported. Checks are being made in the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia, where the suspect was registered. Police sources have told German media that the suspect had applied for asylum and that his case was under review. He was reportedly known to police as a dangerous person with links to Salafist groups in western Germany. Authorities had previously said they had received more than 500 leads that could help them identify the suspect. A 23-year-old Pakistani asylum seeker who was arrested as a suspect was released on Tuesday evening after police acknowledged they had caught the wrong man.

Germany’s security services are facing mounting pressure to explain how Amri could have been able to carry out Monday’s attack despite being known to multiple intelligence agencies and being under covert surveillance for several months.