Truck plows into Berlin Christmas market
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Germany police hunt Tunisian asylum-seeker over Christmas market attack
ReutersGerman police are looking for an asylum-seeker from Tunisia after finding an identity document under the driver's seat of a truck that plowed into a Berlin Christmas market and killed 12 people, officials and security sources said on Wednesday. -
Four people arrested in connection with Berlin attack suspect: BildGermany's chief federal prosecutor has confirmed the arrests of four people who had contact with the Tunisian suspect in the Berlin Christmas market attack that killed 12 people, German newspaper Bild said on Thursday.The chief federal prosecutor was not immediately available for comment.
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Demonstrators protest against a right wing demonstration at the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedaechtniskirche (Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church), in Berlin, Germany, December 21, 2016, after a truck ploughed through a crowd at a Christmas market in the captial on Monday night. REUTERS/Axel Schmidt
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Police watches a right wing demonstration at the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedaechtniskirche (Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church), in Berlin, Germany, December 21, 2016, after a truck ploughed through a crowd at a Christmas market in the captial on Monday night. REUTERS/Christian Mang
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Slideshow: Workers place concrete barriers outside the Christmas market at Breitscheid square in Berlin, Germany, December 22, 2016, following an attack by a truck which ploughed through a crowd at the market on Monday night. REUTERS/Hannibal Hanschke
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BERLIN, Dec 22 (Reuters) - A spokesman for the German chief federal prosecutor on Thursday denied a media report saying that there had been four arrests of people who had contact with the Tunisian suspect in the Berlin Christmas market attack."No, that's not the case," the spokesman said when asked about the report."We do not know of any arrest," he added.
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BERLIN, Dec 22 (Reuters) - Investigators found fingerprints of a Tunisian suspect in the Berlin Christmas market attack on the door of the truck that ploughed through the crowds, killing 12, German media said on Thursday, as a nationwide manhunt for the migrant was underway.
Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the attack in which a truck smashed through wooden huts selling gifts, mulled wine and sausages on Monday evening. It was the deadliest attack on German soil since 1980.
The media did not name their source for the report about 24-year-old Anis Amri's fingerprints and police declined to comment.
The Berlin attack has raised concerns across Europe in the approach to Christmas, with markets in France, target of a series of militant attacks over the last year, tightening security with concrete barriers. Troops were also being posted at churches. -
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Berlin attack suspect is very likely perpetrator, minister says - Reuters NewsBERLIN, Dec 22 - German investigators believe there is a "high probability" that the Tunisian suspect they are hunting in connection with Monday's attack on a Berlin Christmas market is the perpetrator, Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said on Thursday."We can report today that we have new information that the suspect is with high probability really the perpetrator," de Maiziere told reporters."In the cab, in the driving cabin, fingerprints were found and there is additional evidence that support this," he added.Chancellor Angela Merkel, appearing alongside de Maiziere at the Federal Office of Criminal Investigation, said she hoped the perpetrator would be arrested soon.
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Spokeswoman for German federal prosecutor's office says investigators carried out multiple searches across Germany today, first forensic results lead us to assume that suspect drove truck used in attack. No arrests made so far in search for attack suspect.
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Tunisian's fingerprints found in truck that razed Berlin Christmas market
ReutersFingerprints from a Tunisian migrant have been found inside the truck that smashed through a Berlin Christmas market on Monday in an attack that killed 12 people, German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said. -
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Berlin market attack suspect killed in shootout in Italy: security source
A man believed to be the suspect in the Berlin Christmas market truck attack was killed in a shoot-out in a suburb of the northern Italian city of Milan on Friday, a security source told Reuters.
The Italian interior minister will hold a news conference at 10.45 a.m. (0945 GMT), the ministry said. -
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Berlin market attack suspect killed in shootout in Italy -security source
BERLIN/MILAN, Dec 23 - A man believed to be the suspect in the Berlin Christmas market truck attack was killed in a shoot-out in a suburb of the northern Italian city of Milan on Friday, a security source told Reuters.
Italy's interior minister was to hold a news conference at 10.45 a.m. (0945 GMT), the ministry said.
A short video posted on the website of Italian magazine Panorama suggested the shooting happened before dawn, with police gathered around a cordoned-off area in the dark.
The report was one of several conflicting accounts on the whereabouts of the 24-year-old Tunisian Anis Amri.
A man matching his description was seen in Aalborg in northern Denmark, the Danish police tweeted on Friday, saying people should keep away from the area as it had an ongoing operation there.
Amri was also was caught on camera by police on a regular stake-out at a mosque in Berlin's Moabit district early on Tuesday a few hours after the attack, Germany's rbb public broadcaster reported.
Amri was not a suspect at that time, and on Thursday morning, when police raided the mosque, they could not find him, rbb said.
German investigators had said they believed Amri was still lying low in Berlin because he is probably wounded and would not want to attract attention, Der Tagesspiegel, reported citing security sources.
In the early hours of Friday morning, special forces arrested two men suspected of planning an attack on a shopping mall in the city of OberhausenIn in the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia, police said in a statement.
The men - two brothers from Kosovo, aged 28 and 31 - were arrested in the city of Duisburg on information from security sources, they said.
A police spokesman said there was no connection between the Duisburg arrests and the Amri case, which has been claimed by Islamic State.
Amri had been identified by security agencies as a potential threat and had had his application for asylum rejected, but authorities had not managed to deport him because of missing identity documents.
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Berlin lorry suspect shot at Italian police before being killed -police source
ROME, Dec 23 - A man believed to be the suspect in the Berlin Christmas market truck attack was shot dead in the early hours of Friday after he pulled a gun on police who had asked for his I.D. papers, a police source said.
The source said the 24-year-old Tunisian Anis Amri was stopped by a regular patrol near the railway station of Sesto San Giovanni at around 3.30 a.m. (0230 GMT). He shot and wounded a police officer before he himself was killed.
A justice source said Italian police had information he might be in the area. He was identified by his fingerprints.
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Italy says Berlin market attack suspect killed in shootout in Italy
BERLIN/MILAN, Dec 23 - The suspect in the Berlin Christmas market truck attack was killed in a shoot-out in a suburb of the northern Italian city of Milan on Friday, Italy's interior minister said.
Marco Minniti told a news conference that "without any shadow of a doubt" the man was 24-year-old Tunisian Anis Amri, wanted for the attack in Berlin.
A police source said earlier Amri was identified by fingerprints.
Minniti said a routine police patrol stopped Amri in a Milan suburb in the early hours of Friday morning. The man took out a pistol and opened fire, injuring one of the police officers.
The officer is now recovering.
Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the attack, in which the truck mowed through a crowd of people and bulldozed wooden huts selling Christmas gifts and snacks beside a famous church in west Berlin.
One of the 12 dead was the Polish driver from whom the truck had been hijacked. His body, stabbed and shot, was found in the cab.
Police across Europe have been searching for the assailant since the attack on Monday.
Amri was caught on camera by German police on a regular stake-out at a mosque in Berlin's Moabit district early on Tuesday, Germany's rbb public broadcaster reported.
Danish police had also said a man matching his description was seen in Aalborg in northern Denmark.
The Berlin attack has put Europe on high alert over the Christmas period.
In the early hours of Friday morning, German special forces arrested two men suspected of planning an attack on a shopping mall in the city of OberhausenIn in the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia.
The men - two brothers from Kosovo, aged 28 and 31 - were arrested in the city of Duisburg on information from security sources, police said.
A police spokesman said there was no connection between the Duisburg arrests and the Amri case.
Amri had been identified by security agencies as a potential threat and had had his application for asylum rejected, but authorities had not managed to deport him because of missing identity documents.
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Italian Interior Minister Marco Minniti (L) and cheif of police Franco Gabrielli attend a news conference in Rome, Italy, to announce that the suspect in the Berlin truck attack was killed in a shoot-out in a suburb of the norhtern Italian city of Milan, December 23, 2016. REUTERS/Alessandro Bianchi
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Italian Interior Minister Marco Minniti (L) and cheif of police Franco Gabrielli attend a news conference in Rome, Italy, to announce that the suspect in the Berlin truck attack was killed in a shoot-out in a suburb of the norhtern Italian city of Milan, December 23, 2016. REUTERS/Alessandro Bianchi
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Berlin market attack suspect killed in shootout in northern ItalyMILAN, Dec 23 - The suspect in the Berlin Christmas market truck attack was killed in a pre-dawn shoot-out with police in a suburb of the northern Italian city of Milan on Friday, Italy's interior minister said.
"The man killed was without a shadow of doubt Anis Amri," Marco Minniti said, referring to the 24-year-old Tunisian who is suspected of driving the truck that smashed through a Berlin market on Monday killing 12 people.
Minniti told reporters that Amri was stopped by two policemen at around 3 a.m. (0200 GMT) in front of the Sesto San Giovanni train station, north of Milan.
When he was asked for his identification papers, Amri pulled a gun and shot one of the two policemen, lightly wounding him in the shoulder. He in turn was then shot dead by the police.
"These two extraordinary, extremely young men, simply by doing their duty, have done an extraordinary service to our community," Minniti said. One of the two policemen had only just started service and was on his trial period.
A judicial source told Reuters that police had a tip off that Amri might be in the Milan area and that additional patrols had been sent out to look for him.
A rail ticket found on Amri's body indicated he had travelled by high speed train from France to the northern Italian city of Turin, the source said. Amri then caught a regional train to the Milan suburbs.
Minniti gave very few details of the police operation, saying investigations were still in progress. He added that there could be "future developments".
Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the Berlin attack, in which the truck mowed through a crowd of people and bulldozed wooden huts selling Christmas gifts and snacks beside a famous church in west Berlin.
HIGH ALERT
Amri was caught on camera by German police on a regular stake-out at a mosque in Berlin's Moabit district early on Tuesday, Germany's rbb public broadcaster reported.
He had originally come to Europe in 2011, reaching the Italian island of Lampedusa by boat. He told authorities he was a minor, though documents now indicate he was not, and he was transferred to Catania, Sicily, where he was enrolled in school.
Just months later he was arrested by police after he attempted to set fire to the school, a senior police source said. He was later convicted of vandalism, threats, and theft. He spent almost four years in two different prisons in Italy before being order out of the country.
The Berlin attack has put Europe on high alert over the Christmas period.
In the early hours of Friday morning, German special forces arrested two men suspected of planning an attack on a shopping mall in the city of OberhausenIn in the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia.
The men - two brothers from Kosovo, aged 28 and 31 - were arrested in the city of Duisburg on information from security sources, police said.
A police spokesman said there was no connection between the Duisburg arrests and the Amri case.
Amri had been identified by security agencies as a potential threat and had had his application for asylum rejected, but authorities had not managed to deport him because of missing identity documents.
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Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni attends a news conference after Anis Amri, the Tunisian suspect in a truck attack at a Christmas market in Berlin, was shot and killed in a suburb of Milan, at the Chigi Place in Rome, Italy, December 23, 2016. REUTERS/Remo Casilli -
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Berlin attack suspect's movements show open borders must go -Le Pen and Farage
PARIS, Dec 23 (Reuters) - Leading eurosceptics were quick on Friday to blame open European borders under the Schengen pact for allowing the fugitive sought for the Berlin Christmas market attack to travel into France and on to Italy, where he was stopped and shot dead.
"This escapade in at least two or three countries is symptomatic of the total security catastrophe that is the Schengen agreement, said Marine Le Pen, who leads France's far-right, anti-immigrant National Front Party.
Nigel Farage, former UKIP leader tweeted: "If the man shot in Milan is the Berlin killer, then the Schengen Area is proven to be a risk to public safety. It must go." -
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CAIRO, Dec 23 (Reuters) - The Berlin Christmas market attacker pledged his allegiance to Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and called for Islamic State supporters to take revenge of "crusaders" bombing Muslims, a video posted on Amaq news agency showed.
"My message to crusaders bombing Muslims everyday... Their blood will not go in vain. We are a nation behind them and will take revenge for them," he said.
"I call on my Muslim brothers everywhere... Those in Europe, kill the crusader pigs, each person to their own ability." -
A christmas tree lays on the street beside the empty Christmas market in Berlin, Germany, December 21, 2016, after a truck plowed through a crowd at the Christmas market on Monday night. REUTERS/Hannibal Hanschke
Workers remove a chistmas market booth in Berlin, Germany, December 21, 2016, after a truck ploughed through a crowd at the Christmas market on Monday night. REUTERS/Christian Mang
Police patrol at the re-opened Christmas market at Breitscheid square in Berlin, Germany, December 22, 2016, following an attack by a truck which plowed through a crowd at the market on Monday night. REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensc
German Chancellor Angela Merkel lays flowers at the Christmas market in Berlin, Germany, December 20, 2016, one day after a truck ploughed into a crowded Christmas market in the German capital. REUTERS/Hannibal Hanschke
A woman lays flowers near the Christmas market at Breitscheid square in Berlin, Germany, December 23, 2016, following an attack by a truck which plowed through a crowd at the market on Monday night. REUTERS/Hannibal Hanschke
A woman prays next to lit candles at the Christmas market in Berlin, Germany, December 20, 2016, where a truck ploughed into the crowd on Monday. REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch
A card is placed next to flowers and candles, near the Christmas market at Breitscheid square in Berlin, Germany, December 23, 2016, following an attack by a truck which plowed through a crowd at the market on Monday night. REUTERS/Hannibal Hanschke1 of 7
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Spain-Catalonia standoff set to intensify as leaders take hard lines
MADRID Spain's political showdown with Catalonia is set to reach a new level on Thursday when political leaders in Madrid and Barcelona are expected to make good on pledges made to their supporters to stick to their tough positions over the region's future.