Berlin Attack: Pakistani refugee named as suspect

Germany's top security official says a suspect arrested after the truck attack in Berlin "comes from Pakistan" and had applied for asylum.

Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere told reporters on Tuesday that the suspect entered Germany on Dec. 31, 2015, and arrived in Berlin in February.

He says that so far authorities have no knowledge of a claim of responsibility from Daesh group.

"Naved B", had been living in Flughfen Tempelhof - an old airport that had been converted into a refugee centre - and was detained last night following the attack.

The Latest on investigation of truck rampage in Berlin Christmas market

German police believe they arrested wrong man after attack

German police think that the man from Pakistan who was arrested as a suspect in the attack on a Berlin Christmas market that killed 12 people on Monday was not the actual perpetrator, Die Welt newspaper reported, citing senior security sources.

"We have the wrong man," said a senior police chief. "And therefore a new situation. The true perpetrator is still armed, at large and can cause fresh damage," the paper quoted the source as saying.

'Brave bystander' led Berlin police to suspect

The suspect in the Berlin Christmas market truck rampage was arrested with the help of a witness who followed the man after he fled the scene on foot, a German newspaper reported Tuesday.

The respected Die Welt daily said the bystander saw the suspected driver jump out of the cab of the lorry after it had ploughed through a crowd.

The anonymous witness then trailed the suspect for about two kilometres, while staying on the phone with police to keep them informed of his location, according to the report.

Officers were able to arrest the suspect near the Victory Column monument next to the city's Tiergarten park.

"With the help of this witness we were able to catch the suspect," police spokesman Winfrid Wenzel was quoted as telling Die Welt.

"Such civil courage should serve as an encouragement today," he added.

The newspaper said police knew the identity of the "brave witness", but believed he wished to remain anonymous.

The suspect is an asylum seeker believed to be from Pakistan or Afghanistan who arrived in Germany via the so-called Balkans route in February, according to security sources cited by DPA news agency.

German state minister says: "We are in a state of war"

The interior minister of the German state of Saarland said on Tuesday Germany is in a state of war after a man drove a truck into a crowd at a Berlin Christmas market, killing 12 people and injuring 48, in a suspected terrorist attack.

"We must say that we are in a state of war, although some people, who always only want to see good, do not want to see this," the minister, Klaus Bouillon, told German broadcaster SR.

Merkel: 'Sickening' if attacker an asylum-seeker

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that authorities believe a deadly rampage by a lorry driver at a Berlin Christmas market was a "terrorist" attack likely committed by an asylum seeker.

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