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[webfact]

ISIL claims responsibility for Berlin Christmas market attack

Alasdair Sandford

 

 

BERLIN: -- The Berlin Christmas market attack has been claimed by ISIL.

 

German prosecutors say a Pakistani asylum seeker who had been detained has been released.

 

The Chief Federal Prosecutor’s office said it did not have enough evidence. “The investigation up to now did not yield any urgent suspicion against the accused,” it said in a statement.

 

The 23-year-old had made extensive statements during a police hearing, but had denied the offence, it added.

 

A dozen people were killed and 48 injured, 18 of them seriously, when a lorry ploughed into stalls serving mulled wine and sausages in the heart of the German capital.

 

“It is possible that there is still a dangerous perpetrator on the run and of course people are worried. I believe people who live in this city should be vigilant,” Berlin’s police chief Klaus Kandt said during a news conference on Tuesday lunchtime.

 

He said police also thought it possible there might be more than one suspect.

 

The prosecutor’s office said in its later statement that it had been impossible to track the truck driver by eye-witnesses following the attack, and the investigation had not been able to prove that the suspect was in the truck’s cab at the time of the attack.

 

Police say a man found dead in the lorry was a Polish national, adding that he had not been in control of the vehicle. He is believed to be the original truck driver.

 

Germany’s interior minister Thomas de Maizière said a pistol believed to have been used to kill him had not yet been found.

 

Security measures are now being tightened around Christmas markets and other seasonal events in Berlin and elsewhere in Germany. Police with machine guns will patrol Christmas markets in the capital.

 

In Dresden concrete blocks were put in place to prevent vehicles from entering the market.

 

As Germany mourns, flags have been flying at half mast.

 

The authorities say people should not give in to terrorism by changing their plans – and should still attend seasonal events to celebrate Christmas.

 

 

-- © Copyright Euronews 2016-12-21

[Boon Mee]

Angela Merkel has a BIG problem 

[halloween]

So how did this guy become a suspect?

[webfact]

Islamic State claims Berlin Christmas market attack

By DAVID RISING and FRANK JORDANS

 

BERLIN (AP) — The Islamic State group claimed responsibility Tuesday for a truck attack on a crowded Berlin Christmas market that German authorities said came right out of the extremist group's playbook, inflicting mass casualties on a soft target fraught with symbolic meaning.

 

The Monday night attack on the popular market by the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church in the heart of former West Berlin left 12 dead and 48 injured — the first mass casualty attack by Islamic extremists carried out on German soil. German security forces were still hunting for the perpetrator after releasing a man from custody for lack of evidence.

 

The claim of responsibility carried on the Islamic State group's Amaq news agency described the man seen fleeing from the truck as "a soldier of the Islamic State" who "carried out the attack in response to calls for targeting citizens of the Crusader coalition."

 

Germany is not involved in anti-IS combat operations, but has Tornado jets and a refueling plane stationed in Turkey in support of the coalition fighting militants in Syria, as well as a frigate protecting a French aircraft carrier in the Mediterranean, among other assets.

 

The claim of responsibility came not long after German prosecutors said they had released a man picked up near the scene of the attack, initially suspected of driving the truck.

 

The man, a Pakistani citizen who came to Germany last year, was taken into custody based on a description from witnesses of a suspect who jumped out of the truck and fled after the attack.

 

Even before his release, officials had expressed doubt the man was behind the attack.

 

"We may still have a dangerous criminal out there," warned Berlin police chief Klaus Kandt, whose office urged people to be "particularly vigilant" and report "suspicious movement" using a special hotline.

 

Though Germany had not seen any successful mass-casualty Islamic extremist attacks until Monday, attempts and recent attacks in neighboring France and Belgium had made many feel it was inevitable.

 

"We've all been prepared that something like this could happen, so we were not surprised," said economics student Maximilian Much.

 

The 24-year-old Berliner said the attack hit home because he'd often visited the Christmas market with his girlfriend, but that he wouldn't let himself be led by emotion.

 

"I'm not going to change my life style now," he said. "The chances that I get killed in a car or bike accident are bigger."

 

Germany's top prosecutor, Peter Frank, told reporters the attack on the popular market was reminiscent of July's deadly truck rampage in Nice and appeared to follow instructions published by the Islamic State group.

 

"There is also the prominent and symbolic target of a Christmas market, and the modus operandi that mirrors at least past calls by jihadi terror organizations," Frank said.

 

In Washington, State Department spokesman John Kirby said the attack "bears the hallmarks of previous terror attacks," but said U.S. officials didn't have enough information to back up the IS claim of responsibility. "There is no direct evidence of a tie or a link to a terrorist organization," he said.

 

The man arrested near the scene denied any involvement in the attack. Under German law, prosecutors have until the end of a calendar day following an arrest to seek a formal arrest warrant keeping a suspect in custody.

 

Prosecutors said they decided to release him after turning up no forensic evidence proving he was in the truck's cab during the rampage, and no witnesses who were able to follow him from the scene to where he was picked up.

 

Among the injured was Inaki Ellakuria, who underwent surgery Tuesday for a broken tibia and fibula on his left leg. He said he knew immediately it was no accident.

 

"It came fast, too fast to be driving off the road accidentally," the 21-year-old student from Spain tweeted only minutes after the attack. "It has swept me and ran over both of my legs."

 

Juan Jose Ellakuria told the Associated Press his son also suffered broken bones in his right ankle and instep, as well as damage to his hip.

 

"He's come out of surgery and he's making good progress," Ellakuria said.

 

Frank, the German prosecutor, said there were still a lot of unanswered questions.

 

"We don't know for sure whether it was one or several perpetrators," he said. "We don't know for sure whether he, or they, had support. These investigations aren't concluded yet."

 

Witnesses saw only one man flee from the truck after it hurtled through the market for 60 to 80 meters (200 to 260 feet) before coming to a stop near the 19th-century church, which was badly damaged in World War II bombing but left standing as a memorial to the destruction of the war.

 

The head of the Federal Criminal Police Office said authorities had yet to find a pistol that is believed to have been used to kill the Polish truck driver who was supposed to be delivering the steel beams the truck was carrying.

 

The Polish owner of the truck, Ariel Zurawski, said he last spoke with the driver, his cousin, around noon on Monday and he told him he was in Berlin and scheduled to unload Tuesday morning.

 

"They must have done something to my driver," he told TVN24.

 

Flags flew at half-staff on government buildings across the country Tuesday, and in Berlin the national and city flags were projected onto the Brandenburg Gate in tribute to the victims.

 

Authorities said that in addition to the Polish truck driver, six of the people killed were German but the others have not yet been identified.

 

Germans have been increasingly wary since two attacks by asylum-seekers last summer were claimed by the Islamic State group. Five people were wounded in an ax rampage on a train near Wuerzburg and 15 were wounded in a bombing outside a bar in Ansbach, both in the southern state of Bavaria. Both attackers were killed.

 

Those attacks and two others unrelated to Islamic extremism in the same weeklong period, contributed to tensions in Germany over the arrival last year of 890,000 migrants.

 

Far-right groups and a nationalist party seized on Monday night's attack, blaming Chancellor Angela Merkel for what happened.

 

"Under the cloak of helping people Merkel has completely surrendered our domestic security," wrote Frauke Petry, the co-chairwoman of the Alternative for Germany party.

 

The attack also raised concerns of a possible backlash.

 

"No question, the atmosphere in this country will change and become more tense," said Tarik Elsayed, the 22-year-old German-born son of Egyptian parents.

 

"Of course, as an Arab I will get more hostile looks, it will get only worse now."

 

But Tarek Elmasoudi, an Egyptian asylum-seeker, said he wasn't afraid of repercussions. "The Germans are very nice and I want to stay here."

 

Already under pressure for the huge influx of migrants, Merkel addressed head-on the possibility that an asylum-seeker was responsible for the carnage.

 

"I know that it would be particularly hard for us all to bear if it were confirmed that a person committed this act who asked for protection and asylum in Germany," she said in a nationally televised statement.

 

"This would be particularly sickening for the many, many Germans who work to help refugees every day and for the many people who really need our help and are making an effort to integrate in our country."

 

"Twelve people who were still among us yesterday, who were looking forward to Christmas, who had plans for the holidays, aren't among us anymore," she said. "A gruesome and ultimately incomprehensible act has robbed them of their lives."

___

Associated Press writers Kirsten Grieshaber, Ciarian Fahey and Geir Moulson in Berlin, Bassem Mroue in Beirut, Aritz Parra in Madrid, Bradley Klapper in Washington and Angela Charlton in Paris contributed to this report.

 

-- © Associated Press 2016-12-21

[Hayduke]

Is Daesh (ISIS) behind this? Maybe…maybe not. It's worth remembering that they are a terror collective of publicity ghouls and media whores and, regardless of direct involvement, will try to take credit for any atrocity committed against the secular world.

 

But this particular religious demographic encompasses a fairly wide collection of nut jobs. To believe that one group is behind all of this insanity would be simplistic and short-sighted. There’s more than one target here.  

Edited December 21, 2016 by Hayduke

[spidermike007]

At least the Germans are now talking about Islamic terrorism. And realizing that they let in a whole lot of murderous hooligans, under their amnesty clauses. I realize in certain quarters, it is not PC to say all Muslims should be heavily vetted. Though I do not like Trump, that was the one policy he suggested that I felt had merit. If you are Muslim, prove to us you are not our enemy. Show us how moderate you are. And prove to us you have no affiliation with Wahhabism, or any other extreme perversions of your faith. 

[Berkshire]

3 hours ago, webfact said:

The prosecutor’s office said in its later statement that it had been impossible to track the truck driver by eye-witnesses following the attack, and the investigation had not been able to prove that the suspect was in the truck’s cab at the time of the attack.

 

I find this rather peculiar.  How the heck can the driver cause all this carnage and manage to slip away undetected?  Anyways, still early in the investigation.

[Stargeezr]

  A news headline  for  the  future.     ISIL  completely  destroyed!

  Thanks  Germany!

[Suradit69]

6 hours ago, Hayduke said:

But this particular religious demographic encompasses a fairly wide collection of nut jobs. To believe that one group is behind all of this insanity would be simplistic and short-sighted. There’s more than one target here.  

 

I wonder how many people even heard about the (religious?) nut job that shot Muslims in Zurich? It seems that quite often something is only newsworthy if it happens to non-Muslims.

 

Quote

 

A gunman entered an Islamic center in Zurich at around 5:30 p.m. on Monday and opened fire, wounding three people. The gunman then fled and was later found dead by police.

Monday’s attack in Zurich was not perpetrated by, but against, Muslims. Similar incidents in the past have also called into question the media’s coverage of hate crimes targeting Muslims.

In the United States, many Muslims decried a lack of coverage over the February 2015 execution of three Muslim students by a white man in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

 

https://thinkprogress.org/zurich-shooting-7955cdeb7ba0?amp%3Butm_medium=email&amp%3Butm_campaign=tp-letters#.gh7dceudw

 

There also seems to be very little coverage of Muslim leaders condemning violence in the name of Islam although it happens quite frequently. Since it isn't reported it allows the usual collection of self-righteous to ask why there has been no condemnation. For them, if it isn't on Fox Noise, it didn't happen. 

 

 

 

Edited December 21, 2016 by Suradit69

[Suradit69]

2 hours ago, Stargrazer9889 said:

  A news headline  for  the  future.     ISIL  completely  destroyed!

  Thanks  Germany!

 

They could hang the "Thanks Germany" banner from the various Holocaust Memorials to cement their historical record of human rights  advocacy.

[dunroaming]

Whether this was an orchestrated attack or a lone wolf it has all the hallmarks of a terrorist act.  ISIL will claim it anyway.  They are being drastically damaged in Syria and will want to retaliate.  Europe is the obvious target and Christmas the perfect opportunity. 

 

As for Merkel it couldn't come at a worst time for her.  2016 has been a bizarre year by any standard but I suspect 2017 will be even more so.  Fasten your seatbelts, this is going to be quite a ride!

[dunroaming]

News now coming in saying that the German police are now looking for a Tunisian man who  applied for asylum but was rejected and was facing deportation.  If true then to a small extent it will ease the pressure on Merkel. It would mean that it was not an immigrant from Syria, Pakistan or Afghanistan who had been allowed in.

 

Still possibly a terrorist motivated act but time will tell on that.

[alocacoc]

11 hours ago, Boon Mee said:

Angela Merkel has a BIG problem 

 

Not at all. She will get elected next Year again. Germans are brainwashed.

[Andaman Al]

1 hour ago, alocacoc said:

Germans are brainwashed.

Are they all Republicans as well?

 

 

 

12 hours ago, halloween said:

So how did this guy become a suspect?

I think he was picked up about 2 km away from the incident, but only because he vaguely matched a description. Clearly in the unimaginable carnage that ensued getting an accurate description of someone fleeing the scene from people at the centre of that carnage would not be easy. 

 

I hope they catch the guilty person before he can strike again.