German police are desperately hunting a Tunisian man suspected of Monday’s deadly truck attack on a Christmas market in Berlin, hoping to catch him before he can repeat the monstrous act that left a dozen dead and 48 injured, according to reports.
(FOX)- The 23-year-old suspect’s documents were found inside the cab of the truck used to mow down civilians at the market, and he was identified as going by “Ahmed” or “Anis A.,” among other suspected aliases, police sources told German media, including Die Welt.
Die Welt, along with most other German media outlets, published photos of the suspect. The manhunt took a new focus after police determined on Tuesday that a Pakistani migrant intially detained after the horrific attack, for which ISIS has claimed credit, proved to be innocent.
“We don’t know for sure whether it was one or several perpetrators,” said Germany’s top prosecutor, Peter Frank. “We don’t know for sure whether he, or they, had support.”
The suspect reportedly has extensive links to militant Islam.
Born in the jihadi hotbed of Tataouine in 1992, he applied for asylum in Germany in April and received a temporary stay permit for the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, the BBC reported. He was a follower of the recently arrested Abu Walaa, an Iraqi citizen and preacher who was believed to be one of the top ISIS leaders in Germany, according to Suddeutsche Zeitung.
Die Welt reported the suspect had stayed with another suspected Islamist in Germany, had recently sought to obtain weapons and drew the attention of German officials, who were monitoring his communications.