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ISIS Claims Responsibility for Berlin Terrorist Attack

Terrorist group calls truck driver a 'soldier'

Trail of devastation is left behind in Berlin, Germany, Dec. 20, 2016, the day after a truck ran into a crowded Christmas market and killed several people / AP
December 20, 2016

The Islamic State claimed responsibility on Tuesday for the deadly truck attack in Berlin, Germany that killed 12 people and left another 48 injured.

The terrorist group's Amaq news agency released a statement calling the truck driver who plowed through a Christmas market on Monday an ISIS "soldier" who was "targeting citizens of the Crusader coalition," the Associated Press reported.

The truck driver is still at large. German police on Tuesday morning released the only suspect arrested in connection to the terrorist attack, citing insufficient evidence.

Though Germany is not involved the U.S.-led coalition fighting ISIS in Iraq and Syria, the country does support efforts to combat the group. Germany last year deployed reconnaissance jets and a refueling plane to Turkey's southern Incirlik Airbase to assist in anti-ISIS operations.

The terrorist group on Tuesday threatened more attacks on members of the coalition after claiming responsibility for the series of deadly shootings at a popular tourist attraction in Jordan over the weekend.

ISIS has encouraged its followers to use large trucks as a weapon to inflict mass casualties.

This past summer, a lone-wolf attacker killed 86 people in Nice, France, after driving a cargo truck through crowds celebrating Bastille Day on the Promenade des Angalis. Two days after the attack, Amaq released a statement calling the truck driver a "soldier" of the jihadist group.