German Police hunts for Tunisian suspect in Berlin attack

Berlin: The German police launched a manhunt on Wednesday for a rejected asylum seeker suspected of being involved in a deadly truck assault on a Berlin Christmas market. The attack was claimed by the ISIS group.

Officials said asylum office papers believed to belong to the Tunisian man, with alleged links to the radical Islamist scene, were found in the cab of the 40-tonne lorry used in the attack that killed 12 people.

“There is a new suspect we are searching for — he is a suspect, but not necessarily the assailant,” interior minister Thomas de Maiziere told reporters, saying a Europe-wide search was underway. He declined to give further details.

However, his regional counterpart in the North Rhine-Westphalia state, Ralf Jaeger, said the man identified as Anis A., or Ahmed A., by the media, had already been under investigation for planning an attack.

Counter-terrorism officials had exchanged information about him and a probe had been launched suspecting he was preparing “a serious act of violence against the state,” Mr Jaeger said.     

The suspect came to Germany in July 2015 but his application for asylum was rejected this June.