The driver who plowed the truck he stole into a crowd at a Berlin Christmas market, killing at least 12 and injuring dozens, was an asylum-seeker from Pakistan bent on carrying out a terror attack. German security officials confirmed Tuesday.
Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere, who serves as the top security official in Germany, put out a statement that said law enforcement authorities have “no doubt” the assault was an intentional act.
Fox News adds this:
“He added that a man arrested in connection with the attack was a Pakistani man who had entered Germany on Dec. 31, 2015, and arrived in Berlin in February. De Maiziere said the man had applied for asylum and denied to police that he was involved.
“The man was identified only as 23-year-old Naved B. He was picked up around 1 1/2 miles away from the scene of the attack.”
Local news reports Naved B. was known by police for minor incidents, but had not been on the radar of terror watch lists.
The realization of his asylum-seeking status will prove a massive political hit for Angela Merkel, who’s pressed for more migrants from mostly Muslim nations in recent months.
On Tuesday, Merkel was quoted by the New York Times as saying: “We must assume at the current time that it was a terrorist attack. I know that it would be particularly difficult for all of us to bear if it would be confirmed that this deed wsa carried out by a person who sought protection and asylum in Germany.”
Merkel’s poll numbers have fallen in recent months due to a massive voter backlash against the numbers of migrants she’s let into Geremany, resulting in a radical culture change and security risk to citizens. Headlines out of Germany have spoken of sexual attacks by Muslim migrants against minor-age girls and women, as well as rising terror threats and attacks.
The Berlin attack came just a few weeks after the U.S. State Department warned of the threat of terror incidents in markets and other public places in Europe. ISIS and al-Qaeda have both called for lone wolf followers to use trucks to carry out acts of terror, and have of late pressured for attacks during public holiday events.
Germany has accepted nearly 1 million migrants in the last year. A recent survey of German residents show 70 percent want tighter borders, nearly a quarter want to halt immigration altogether, and almost half would like to see a referendum on the country’s participation in the European Union brought up for vote.
