Berlin attack: Tunisian man ‘identified as suspect’ from truck documents

From Sky News  The Telegraph and the German edition of The Local

German police are hunting a Tunisian man over the Berlin market attack after finding documents in the truck, according to reports. The identity document was found under the driver’s seat of the truck which ploughed into crowds at the Christmas market on Monday evening, killing 12 people.

Der Spiegel and Allgemeine Zeitung reported that the document, apparently asylum office papers, was in the name of Anis A, born in 1992 in Tataouine, Tunisia. The suspect was also known to have two aliases, according to the newspapers. Bild said Anis A was known to police for bodily harm and is considered dangerous.

11.42am Police in North Rhine-Westphalia are preparing “immediate actions” in connection with the Berlin attack, reports DPA

A gun used to kill the Polish driver of the hijacked lorry is still missing, and it is feared the perpetrator may be armed. Earlier, Peter Frank, the German attorney-general, admitted the authorities did not know if a single perpetrator or a group had been behind the attack.

The Süddeutsche Zeitung is reporting that the suspect received permission to stay in Germany in April, but that he was classified as “dangerous” by authorities.

He was under observation and had links to Islamist preacher Abu Walaa, but went underground this month, writes SZ. According to this report he has 8 different identities, one of which he used to apply for asylum.

In November police arrested Abu Walaa along with four other men who are considered to be key links to Isis in Germany.

According to Süddeutsche Zeitung (SZ) information, authorities have long considered Abu Walaa, to be one of the central figures in the German Islamist scene and have described him as “the faceless preacher.”

Abu Walaa and his circle have already been linked to a bomb attack on a Sikh temple, which took place earlier in the year. That link has as yet not been proven in court.