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2016 Berlin truck attack

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2016 Berlin attack
Part of Wave of Terror in Europe
Known path of the truck
LocationBreitscheidplatz, Berlin, Germany
Date19 December 2016 (7 years ago) (2016-12-19)
20:02 CET (UTC+01)
Attack type
Vehicular assault, truck hijacking, stabbing, shooting, mass murder
WeaponsScania R 450 semi-trailer truck, small-caliber gun, knife
Deaths13 (1 driver and 11 pedestrians)
Injured49

On the evening of 19 December 2016, a truck was driven into the Christmas market next to the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church at Breitscheidplatz in Berlin. Twelve people were killed and 49 others injured. One of the victims was the truck's original driver Łukasz Urban, who was found shot dead in the passenger seat. A suspect was arrested and later released due to lack of evidence, while the perpetrator is believed to be at large and expected to be armed.

Police and the public prosecutor are treating the attack as terrorism. The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant claimed responsibility for the attack, saying the attacker answered its calls to target the citizens of states that are fighting against it. The veracity of the claim is unknown.[1]

Background

The attack took place during a time of heightened Islamist terrorist activity in Europe. Several terrorist attacks in 2016, in Germany and in neighboring countries, have been linked to the Islamic State;[2] some of them bore similarities to the truck attack on the Christmas market in Berlin.

In March, 32 people were killed by three co-ordinated suicide bombings in the Belgian capital Brussels. On 14 July, a Tunisian-French man deliberately drove a truck into crowds celebrating Bastille Day in the French city of Nice, killing 86 people. Four days later, an Afghan asylum seeker stabbed five people on a train near Würzburg, Germany.[2] On 24 July, a Syrian refugee blew himself up outside a music festival in the German city of Ansbach, wounding fifteen people.[2] Two days later, Islamists attacked Christians attending a church service in Normandy, killing an elderly priest.[2] On 26 November, a 12-year-old Iraqi-German boy planted a nail bomb at a Christmas market in Ludwigshafen, but it failed to detonate.[3]

On 21 November the US State Department warned that Americans "should exercise caution at holiday festivals, events, and outdoor markets" throughout Europe. This was in view of the threat from ISIL, al-Qa'ida and affiliated groups, including self-radicalized extremists.[4][5]

Attack

Fatal hijacking

Aerial view of the Christmas market at Breitscheidplatz, 2015

The vehicle involved, a black Scania R 450 semi-trailer truck,[6] bore Polish number plates and belongs to a Polish delivery company, Usługi Transportowe (Transport Services) Ariel Żurawski, based in Sobiemyśl.[7] The truck was on its return leg to Poland, having started its trip in Turin, Italy,[8] and was transporting steel beams to a Berlin warehouse[9] owned by ThyssenKrupp.[10]

The head of the delivery company, Ariel Żurawski, reported that his cousin Łukasz Robert Urban[10][11] had been driving the truck to Berlin, but that he could not imagine him being responsible for the attack.[8] Żurawski's company last contacted Urban between 15:00 and 16:00, when Urban reported that he had arrived a day early to the Berlin warehouse and that he had to wait there overnight to unload his truck the following morning.[8][10] The last photo of Urban still alive was taken at a kebab shop near the ThyssenKrupp warehouse at about 14:00.[10]

The family had been unable to contact Urban since 16:00.[12] Żurawski suspected that the truck had been hijacked based on its GPS coordinates,[8] as well as indications that the truck was being driven erratically.[10] Żurawski later identified the victim found in the truck as his cousin Urban,[13] the original driver of the semi-trailer.[14] It is believed that Urban was killed by the perpetrator of the attack.[15]

Attack on Christmas market

On 19 December 2016, at 20:02 local time,[16] Someone drove the stolen truck through a Christmas market at Breitscheidplatz in the City West of Berlin, killing eleven people and injuring 49.[17][18] The truck came from the direction of Hardenbergstraße, drove 50–80 metres (160–260 ft) through the market, and destroyed several booths[19] before turning towards the road and stopping in front of the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church.[20] Before entering the Christmas market, the truck had circled Breitscheidplatz once.[21]

Several witnesses saw the driver leave the truck and flee towards Tiergarten. One witness ran after him.[22]

Łukasz Urban was found dead in the passenger seat of the truck cab; he had been stabbed and shot[13][23] once in the head[21] with a small-caliber firearm.[14][24] Investigators believe that Urban was still alive when the truck reached Breitscheidplatz and was stabbed because he tried to stop the attack. Reports indicated that he grabbed the steering wheel, forcing the truck to veer left and crash to a stop, and was then shot at the scene of the crash. This act may have saved many lives.[25] The weapons are still missing.[10]

Investigation

Police and Public Prosecution are investigating the incident as a terrorist attack.[26] The Chancellor of Germany, Angela Merkel said, "We must assume this was a terrorist attack".[27] The German Minister of the Interior, Thomas de Maizière, described the incident as a brutal attack.[28] The United States Department of State had previously warned of terrorist attacks on Christmas markets in Europe after ISIL took hold of Raqqa and Mosul.[29][30] ISIL claimed responsibility for the terrorist attack shortly after the release of a Pakistani suspect who was mistakenly detained.[31][32]

Suspects

Initially detained suspect who was cleared

The truck involved, surrounded by fire fighting vehicles
Breitscheidplatz after the attack

On the evening of 19 December, police arrested a suspect, believed to have driven the truck during the attack, near the Berlin Victory Column.[11][33][34][18][22] The arrested man denied involvement, and was later identified as a 23-year-old asylum seeker from Turbat, Pakistan.[35] The Special Deployment Commando Berlin stormed the hangar at Tempelhof which is used as a refugee camp, where the arrested man lived with six others in a room. His mobile phone was seized and analyzed. Police sources later suggested that they might have arrested "the wrong man" because the individual in custody did not carry gunshot residue or any marks which would indicate that he had been in a fight.[36] Furthermore, forensic tests could not prove that the suspect was inside the cab of the truck.[37] Police therefore believed that the attacker might still be at large.[36]

German Public Prosecutor General Peter Frank said: "We have to get used to the idea that the man apprehended may not be the perpetrator or belong to the group of perpetrators."[38][39] The man was released on the evening of 20 December due to the lack of evidence.[40][41]

Hunt for suspect

On 21 December, police announced that investigators had found, under the truck's driver's seat, a suspension of deportation.[42] who had been born in Tataouine, Tunisia, in 1992. Authorities subsequently began a Europe-wide search for the suspect.[17][43][44] Later that day the police announced that the search had been expanded to include the entire Schengen Area.[45] According to investigators, the suspect entered Germany from Italy in 2015 and belonged to a Salafist network, the so-called "True Religion" group, which has grown up around the recently-arrested Abu Walaa, a known ISIL recruiter in Germany.[46] He is being publicly sought by the Federal Criminal Police Office. Officials called for a public manhunt, issuing a recent picture, and offering a reward of €100,000, warning that he might be armed and dangerous. He was described as being 178 cm (5 ft 10 in) tall, weighing 75 kilograms (165 lb), with dark hair and brown eyes.[47]

The man had arrived in Germany in July 2015 and applied for asylum in April 2016. He has used at least six different aliases and also posed as a citizen of Egypt and Lebanon. He was involved in a knife attack over drugs in July 2016 and disappeared after police tried to question him.[48]

Victims

Casualties by nationality
Country Deaths Injuries Ref.
 Germany 6 Unknown [49]
 Israel 1 1 [50]
 Poland 1 0 [51]
 Italy 0 3 [52]
 Spain 0 2 [53]
 United Kingdom 0 2 [54]
 Lebanon 0 1 [55]
Unknown 4 40 [56]
Total 12 49 [57]

Reactions

Many world leaders offered condolences to Germany and the victims of the attack.[58]

National and international right-wing politicians laid blame for the attack on Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel and her refugee policies and "open door to migrants".[59][60][61][62][63][64] By contrast, several other national and international political commentators praised what they described as the cool-headed reaction of the Merkel administration, and condemned the right-wing reaction as dangerous and impious.[65]

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to 2016 Berlin Christmas market truck attack.

References

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  2. ^ a b c d "Germany attacks: What is going on?". BBC News. 20 December 2016. Retrieved 21 December 2016.
  3. ^ "German-Iraqi boy, 12, 'tried to bomb Christmas market'". BBC News. 16 December 2016. Retrieved 21 December 2016.
  4. ^ https://travel.state.gov/content/passports/en/alertswarnings/Europe.html
  5. ^ http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/20/world/europe/berlin-attack-christmas-market.html?_r=0
  6. ^ LKW rast in Weihnachtsmarkt auf Breitscheidplatz. In: Berliner Zeitung, 19. Dezember 2016
  7. ^ Ogórek, Sebastian (19 December 2016). "Zamach w Berlinie. Ariel Żurawski dla WP: Najważniejsze dla mnie to znaleźć mojego kierowcę". Retrieved 20 December 2016.
  8. ^ a b c d Jamieson, Amber (19 December 2016). "Berlin truck crash: 'suspicious person' arrested after nine killed at Christmas market – live". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 19 December 2016.
  9. ^ "Berlin lorry deaths: Police say 'probably terrorist attack'". BBC. 20 December 2016.
  10. ^ a b c d e f Kirchgaessner, Stephanie (20 December 2016). "Police pore over Polish truck driver's final hours for clues to Berlin attack". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 21 December 2016.
  11. ^ a b "Weihnachtsmarkt-Attacke: In diese drei Ansätze setzt die Polizei ihre Hoffnung". Die Welt (in German). 21 December 2016. Retrieved 21 December 2016.
  12. ^ "Atak terrorystyczny w Berlinie? Ciężarówka wjechała w tłum na jarmarku". 19 December 2016. Retrieved 20 December 2016.
  13. ^ a b Metro.co.uk, Nicole Morley for (20 December 2016). "Truck driver named as first victim of Berlin Christmas market terror attack".
  14. ^ a b "Liveticker zu Anschlag auf Berliner Weihnachtsmarkt" (in German). NTV. 20 December 2016.
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  26. ^ "Anschlag in Berlin: BKA zeigt sich 'hochalarmiert'" [Attack in Berlin: BKA on 'high alert']. Der Spiegel (in German).
  27. ^ "Merkel on Berlin Xmas Market Tragedy: 'We must assume this was a terrorist attack'". Deutsche Welle. 20 December 2016. Retrieved 20 December 2016.
  28. ^ "Todesfahrt von Berlin: De Maizière: „Kein Zweifel mehr an Anschlag"" [Deadly Drive in Berlin: De Maizière: 'No Doubt Any More About Attack']. faz.net (in German). Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. 20 December 2016. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  29. ^ Sanchez, Raf (22 November 2016). "US warns of 'heightened' risk of terror attacks on Christmas markets in Europe as Isil loses grip on Mosul and Raqqa". The Telegraph. Retrieved 20 December 2016.
  30. ^ "Europe Travel Alert". travel.state.gov. Bureau of Consular Affairs, US State Department. 9 September 2016. Retrieved 20 December 2016.
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  33. ^ "Berlin truck driver reportedly a refugee from Pakistan or Afghanistan". Washington Times. 19 December 2016. Retrieved 20 December 2016.
  34. ^ Shams, Shamil (20 December 2016). "Pakistani and Afghan refugees fear backlash after Berlin attack". DW. Retrieved 21 December 2016.
  35. ^ "Berlin attack: No certainty over man arrested by police". BBC. 20 December 2016.
  36. ^ a b "Anschlag in Berlin: Polizei zweifelt an Täterschaft des Festgenommenen". Der Spiegel.
  37. ^ "Germany releases Pakistani held over Berlin attack". Dawn. 21 December 2016. Retrieved 21 December 2016.
  38. ^ Geil, Karin; Finkenwirth, Angelika; Pontius, Jakob; Klormann, Sybille (20 December 2016). "Berlin: Die Berliner Polizei hat wohl den Falschen". Die Zeit.
  39. ^ Biermann, Kai; Faigle, Philip; Geisler, Astrid; Müller, Daniel; Musharbash, Yassin; Polke-Majewski, Karsten; Venohr, Sascha (20 December 2016). "Weihnachtsmarkt: What we know for sure". Die Zeit. Translated by Charles Hawley, Daryl Lindsey.
  40. ^ "Nach Anschlag in Berlin: Vorläufig Festgenommener ist wieder frei" [After the Attack in Berlin...]. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ.net) (in German). 20 December 2016. Retrieved 20 December 2016.
  41. ^ "Berlin market attack suspect released". BBC News. 20 December 2016.
  42. ^ "Anschlag in Berlin: Das ist über den neuen Tatverdächtigen bekannt - Welt".
  43. ^ "Nach Berlin-Anschlag: Polizei fahndet bundesweit nach Verdächtigem" (in German). Tagesschau. 21 December 2016. Archived from the original on 21 December 2016. Retrieved 21 December 2016.
  44. ^ "Polizei sucht tatverdächtigen Tunesier" (in German). Spiegel Online. 21 December 2016. Archived from the original on 21 December 2016. Retrieved 21 December 2016.
  45. ^ "Berlin truck attack: Manhunt across Europe for suspect". BBC News. 21 December 2016. Retrieved 21 December 2016.
  46. ^ "Polizei fahndet nach Tunesier Anis A." (in German). Tagesschau. 21 December 2016. Archived from the original on 21 December 2016. Retrieved 21 December 2016.
  47. ^ GmbH, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (21 December 2016). "Nach Attentat in Berlin: Öffentliche Fahndung nach verdächtigem Tunesier". FAZ.NET (in German). Retrieved 21 December 2016.
  48. ^ Connolly, Kate. "market attack Berlin attack suspect Anis Amri had been on watchlist since January". theguardian.com. The Guardian. Retrieved 21 December 2016.
  49. ^ "Live: Police investigate Berlin lorry attack". BBC.com. 19 December 2016.
  50. ^ {http://hamodia.com/2016/12/21/israeli-victim-berlin-attack-mend-wife-still-missing/
  51. ^ Morley, Nicole (20 December 2016). "Truck driver named as first victim of Berlin Christmas market terror attack". Metro.co.uk. Associated Newspapers Limited. Retrieved 20 December 2016.
  52. ^ "Attentato al mercatino di Natale di Berlino. Rilasciato pakistano sospetto, killer ancora in fuga". ANSA.it (in Italian). 19 December 2016.
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  55. ^ "Lebanese wounded in Berlin Christmas market attack". mtv.com.lb. mtv Lebanon. Lebanon's Embassy in Germany informed the government that a Lebanese man identified as Mohammad Hassan Wehbeh was wounded in the attack on a Christmas market in Berlin.
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  57. ^ "Berlin attack: So-called Islamic State claims responsibility". BBC.com. 20 December 2016. Retrieved 20 December 2016.
  58. ^ Gidda, Mirren (20 December 2016). "How World Leaders Reacted to the Berlin Attack". Newsweek. Retrieved 21 December 2016.
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  61. ^ "German MP blames Angela Merkel for suspected terror attack in Berlin". The Independent. 19 December 2016. Retrieved 21 December 2016.
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  63. ^ Oltermann, Philip (20 December 2016). "Deadly attack on German soil is worst fear for Angela Merkel". the Guardian. Retrieved 21 December 2016.
  64. ^ Reilly, Katie (20 December 2016). "How Europe's Rightwing Populists Reacted to Berlin Christmas Market Attack". Time.com. Retrieved 21 December 2016.
  65. ^
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