Police scrambling to find the Tunisian man suspected of being the driver of the truck that drove into a Berlin Christmas market on Monday night have carried out raids overnight in the German capital and Dortmund.
The suspect’s fingerprints were found on the driver’s side door of the Polish-registered truck, German public broadcasters NDR, WDR and the “Süddeutsche Zeitung” newspaper reported on Thursday. The “Berliner Zeitung” newspaper also reported that traces of Amri’s fingerprints were uncovered on the truck’s steering wheel. If the reports are proven true, it would be the clearest evidence linking lead suspect Anis Amri to Monday’s attack.
Anis Amri, 24, is thought to have temporarily stayed at the Dortmund apartment which the German police raided around 6.30am. In Berlin, police raided flats in the city’s Kreuzberg, Moabit and Prenzlauer Berg districts at 4 am.The German chancellor, Angela Merkel, said she hoped the suspect would be arrested soon. Germany’s state prosecutor had earlier denied media reports that four of Amri’s “personal contacts” had been arrested during the police operation. “We are not aware of any arrests,” a spokesperson told Reuters on Thursday morning.
German authorities have issued a warrant for Amri’s arrest and a Europe-wide manhunt for the suspect is underway. The wanted notice said the 24-year-old Tunisian national went by at least six different aliases and he is considered “violent and armed.” Officials are offering a reward of up to 100,000 euros ($105,000) for information leading to his arrest.
