Police hunt Tunisian in Berlin Christmas market attack

A poster reading "Terrorism hurts all..." is placed on December 21, 2016 at a makeshift memorial near the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedaechtniskirche (Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church) in Berlin, close to the site where a truck crashed into a Christmas market two days before. Twelve people were killed and almost 50 wounded, 18 seriously, when the lorry tore through the crowd on December 19, 2016, smashing wooden stalls and crushing victims, in scenes reminiscent of July's deadly attack in the French Riviera city of Nice. / AFP PHOTO / CLEMENS BILAN

German police are searching for a Tunisian man in connection with the deadly truck attack on a crowd at a Berlin Christmas market, media reported Wednesday.

The man is aged 21 or 23 and known by three different names, according to reports in the daily Allgemeine Zeitung and the Bild newspaper.

Both said asylum office papers believed to belong to the man were found in the cab of the truck.

The documents, which announced a stay of deportation, were found under the driver’s seat of the 40-tonne lorry that barrelled through the Christmas market in the heart of the German capital.

Police were reportedly searching for the suspect, who was born in the southern Tunisian city of Tataouine, in the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia.

Twelve people were killed in what German authorities have called a “terrorist attack” in Berlin late Monday, including the Polish driver of the truck.

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.

The IS-linked Amaq news agency said “a soldier of the Islamic State” carried out the Berlin carnage “in response to appeals to target citizens of coalition countries”.

There was no evidence to back the claim, nor was the perpetrator identified.

Tunisia is one of the biggest suppliers of jihadist fighters, with some 5,500 of its nationals believed to be involved in combat in Syria, Iraq and Libya.

AFP