Berlin - German police on Wednesday
intensified a manhunt for the driver of a truck, who killed 12
people when he mowed into a Berlin Christmas market, and said
they were following a number of good leads.
After releasing a Pakistani asylum-seeker arrested near the
scene, authorities warned that the attacker is on the run and
may be armed. They have also said it is unclear if the
perpetrator was acting alone or with others.
Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the attack.
The head of the Association of German Criminal Detectives,
told German television late on Tuesday that police hoped to make
another arrest soon.
"I am relatively confident that we will perhaps tomorrow or
in the near future be able to present a new suspect," Andre
Schulz told a talk show on the ZDF public channel.
Wednesday's Passauer Neue Presse quoted the head of the
group of interior ministers from Germany's 16 federal states,
Klaus Bouillon, as saying tougher security measures were needed.
"We want to raise the police presence and strengthen the
protection of Christmas markets. We will have more patrols.
Officers will have machine guns. We want to make access to
markets more difficult, with vehicles parked across them,"
Bouillon told the paper.
The 25-ton truck smashed into wooden huts serving mulled
wine and sausages, injuring about 45 people. Six of those killed
were Germans and the Polish driver of the truck was found shot
dead in the cabin of the vehicle.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who will run for a fourth
term next year, said that it would be particularly repulsive if
a refugee, seeking protection in Germany, was the perpetrator.
Some politicians have blamed her open-door migrant policy
for making such attacks more likely.
The anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD), which has
won support in the last two years as Merkel's own popularity has
waned, said on Tuesday that Germany is no longer safe.
Some politicians have also called for changes to Merkel's
immigration and security policies after she allowed more than a
million migrants to enter Germany in the last two years, many
fleeing war in the Middle East and Africa.
Bavarian Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann told German
radio on Wednesday that there was a higher risk of Islamist
attacks because of the influx of migrants.