12 Killed as Truck Slams into Berlin Christmas Market

Pakistani Refugee Accused of Hijacking Truck, Killing Driver

by Jason Ditz, December 19, 2016

At least 12 people were killed and 48 wounded today when a truck crashed into a Berlin Christmas market. Officials are investigating the attack as a potential act of terrorism, but the details are still emerging, and it isn’t totally clear what happened.

The truck was Polish-registered and inside the cab the driver was found dead. The trucking company’s owner, the cousin of the driver, insisted it was impossible he was the driver at the time of the accident, and that he believes someone hijacked the truck, killed him, and committed the attack.

A Pakistani refugee was detained by German security forces 2 kilometers from the incident, and there isspeculation he is behind the attack. The refugee was described as having been wearing a mask at the time of his detention.

ISIS has also issued a statement claiming responsibility for the attack, though as is often the case, ISIS’ claim of credit is taken with a grain of salt, absent evidence, because they claim a lot of incidents that they don’t end up having been involved in.