Germany: Germany releases Berlin attack suspect as ISIS claims involvement
German officials on Tuesday released the chief suspect in the gruesome terrorist attack against a Christmas market in Berlin, launching a nationwide search for an attacker whom the Islamic State claimed had acted on the terrorist group’s behalf.
Early in the day, the authorities announced that they had the arrested a 23-year-old Pakistani asylum seeker who arrived in Germany last December as a suspect. But as the day progressed they expressed uncertainty that he was indeed the driver of the truck.
By evening the federal prosecutor said the man had been released because there was no proof linking him to the crime. An examination of both the suspect and the cab of the truck turned up no evidence that he had been in it, the prosecutor said.
That meant the culprit was still on the run, and far-right politicians wasted no time in pinning responsibility for the deaths on Chancellor Angela Merkel.