No Good Deed Goes Unpunished

BERLIN

The driver of the big rig that barreled into a crowded Christmas market in Berlin on Monday — killing at least 12 people and injuring scores more — is a Pakistani refugee who arrived in Germany earlier this year, local reports say.

Sources told the German newspaper “Die Welt” that the suspected terror suspect came into the country on February 16, according to the Telegraph.

The man has been arrested in the past for minor criminal offences unrelated to terrorism, the sources said.

Another Berlin paper, Der Tagesspiegel, reported earlier that he was believed to be either Pakistani or Afghan.

Two senior German officials later confirmed to The Washington Post that the man was, in fact, believed to be a Pakistani national who arrived as an asylum seeker.

German authorities have yet confirm the identity of the driver or his nationality.

The fact that he is an alleged asylum seeker from Pakistan will surely spark widespread outrage in Germany following Chancellor Angela Merkel’s decision last year to allow nearly 1 million migrants from the Middle East enter the country.

“When will German rule of law strike back? When will this accursed hypocrisy end? These are Merkel’s deaths!” tweeted Marcus Pretzell, European parliament member from the right-wing Alternative for Germany, according to the Washington Times.

Germany has been a popular target for terrorists in 2016.

The Islamic State has already claimed responsibility for at least two attacks in the country — both of which were committed by asylum seekers.

Just last week, German prosecutors revealed that they were probing an incident involving a 12-year-old boy who allegedly planned to use a nail-bomb attack to slaughter people at a Christmas market in the southern city of Ludwigshafen.


According to the Washington Post, investigators told local media that they believed the youngster — who holds dual German and Iraqi citizenship — was being directed by a member of ISIS.