'ISIS terrorist' who killed 12 after hijacking HGV, murdering driver and ploughing into Berlin Christmas market is 'a Pakistani asylum seeker, 23, who has only been in Germany for few months'

A Pakistani asylum seeker believed to have used a hijacked 25-tonne lorry to murder 12 people and injure 48 more at a Berlin Christmas market had only been in Germany for months and was already known to police because of petty crime, it was revealed today.The masked 23-year-old named as Naved B, who entered the country under a false name, turned off the truck's lights before mounting the pavement at 40mph and ploughing through crowds of people enjoying mulled wine after work.The vehicle laden with steel cargo ripped through stalls and shoppers at 7pm on Breitscheidplatz Square, outside the KaiserWilhelm Memorial Church in the German capital's main shopping area.Witnesses said victims were sent flying like bowling pins as the killer driver steeredat them before jumping out of the cab and racing from the scene. Police traced the masked terror suspect to a nearby zoo andmanaged to take him alive. He is in a Berlinpolice station today.Police confirmed the lorry's original Polish driver, who was transporting steel beams from Poland to Germany, was last heard from at around 4pm yesterday and was found dead in the cab in an apparent murder hijacking.German officials have said that the driver is a Pakistani national who entered Germany via the Balkans between December 31 and February as an asylum seeker. He was believed to be living in a refugee camp at Berlin's Tempelhof airport,which was raided by an elite group of armed anti-terror police at 4am this morning.The terror attack could be a political disaster for Angela Merkel, who will seek a historic fourth term as German Chancellor next year. The German leader has staked much of her political capital in opening up Germany's doors to refugees and in doing so divided a reunited land.In a further hammer blow, security sourceshave suggested that police in Berlin were warned that an attack on a Christmas market could be imminent. Armed police inBritain have been patrolling markets in major cities and surrounding them with a ring of steel crash barriers to prevent a vehicle being used as a weapon.

Source: Dailymail