Germany detains alleged contact of Berlin truck attacker
German police have detained a Tunisian on suspicion of connections with Anis Amri, the slain Tunisian who recently carried out a deadly truck attack in Berlin.
The federal prosecutor's office said in a statement on Wednesday that the man could have been tied to Amri as the truck driver, who was gunned down by Italian police last week, had the suspect’s number on his phone.
"The deceased suspect Anis Amri had saved the number of this 40-year-old Tunisian national in his phone. The investigations indicate that he may have been linked to the attack," said the prosecutors, adding, “The extent to which the suspicions against the detained person can be confirmed remains subject to further investigation.”
The statement did not say whether the suspect had, in the first place, accepted links to Amri.
Reports said the man was arrested earlier on Wednesday after police carried out a search into his house and work premises.
Amri ploughed a hijacked truck into a crowd shopping at a Christmas market in the German capital on December 19, killing 12 people. The 24-year-old was at large for four days before he was shot dead by police in Milan.
Daesh claimed responsibility for the attack, saying Amri was a follower. Authorities say that other motives could have been involved.
Sources close to the investigation said on Wednesday that Amri had traveled by bus from the Netherlands to France before heading to Italy. Investigators are trying to understand how the Tunisian had managed to leave Berlin and traverse most of Germany to reach the Netherlands.
A relative of Amri, along with two other men, has also been arrested in Tunisia on suspicion of working in a terrorist cell that was connected to the Tunisian.
Tunisian prosecutors have yet to make clear whether the trio had been directly linked to the Christmas market attack.
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