Agencies : World leaders, including Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday expressed their horror at the Berlin Christmas market attack.
Putin said, “This crime against peaceful civilians is shocking in its savage cynicism,” reports the Guardian.
Earlier in the day, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that authorities believe that the Berlin Christmas market assault was a “terrorist” attack likely committed by an asylum seeker.
“According to what we know, we have to assume this was a terrorist attack. I know it will be especially hard for us to take if it is confirmed that the person who committed this attack sought protection and asylum in Germany,” Merkel told reporters.
As per the recent reports in the German media, a man arrested under suspicion of ploughing a 7-tonne truck through a Christmas market in the heart of Berlin, killing 12, has been named as Naved B, a 23-year-old asylum seeker of Pakistani origin. However, there is no official confirmation about the same.
US President-elect Donald Trump, on Tuesday, vowed to eradicate ISIS and other Islamist terrorists from the face of the earth after chilling attacks in Turkey, Germany and Switzerland.
Condemning the Berlin attack, the 70-year-old President- elect said: “Our hearts and prayers are with the loved ones of the victims of today’s horrifying terror attack in Berlin. Innocent civilians were murdered in the streets as they prepared to celebrate the Christmas holiday.”
A lorry ploughed into a busy Christmas market in central Berlin yesterday, killing several people and injuring over 50 in what police said was a possible terror attack.
“ISIS and other Islamist terrorists continually slaughter Christians in their communities and places of worship as part of their global jihad. These terrorists and their regional and worldwide networks must be eradicated from the face of the earth, a mission we will carry out with all freedom-loving partners,” Trump said.
