The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for what German Chancellor Angela Merkel called a “gruesome” attack on a Berlin Christmas market Monday, which killed a dozen people and injured nearly 50 more, many of them seriously.
From the Associated Press:
IS said in a statement from its Amaq news agency that the attacker “in Berlin is a soldier of the Islamic State and 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’d released a man picked up on Monday night near the scene of the attack, initially suspected of driving the truck. The man, a Pakistani citizen who came to Germany last year, had been picked up based on a description of a suspect who jumped out of the truck and fled. But federal prosecutors said late Tuesday that he denied any involvement and they had found no forensic evidence proving he was in the cab during the rampage.
The hunt for a suspect was still on as of Tuesday evening.
The crime was committed when a truck slammed into a group of market-goers, calling to mind a similar attack earlier this year in Nice, France, which killed 86 individuals. The Islamic State also claimed responsibility for that massacre.
More from the AP here.
