Pakistani man briefly held over Berlin attack hails from Balochistan

Relative says Naveed Baloch sought asylum in Germany in February this year

QUETTA: A Pakistani man briefly detained in Germany for his alleged links with the terrorist attack that killed 12 people hailed from Balochistan, his relative said on Tuesday.

Naveed Baloch applied for asylum in Germany in February this year and was living in Turbat when he left for the country, his cousin added. Baloch hailed from Mand area in Kech district of the province.

On Tuesday, German authorities released Baloch due to a lack of evidence.



News of the arrest of the 23-year-old Pakistani had led politicians in Germany and beyond to demand a crackdown on immigration, but Chancellor Angela Merkel urged caution. “There is much we still do not know with sufficient certainty but we must, as things stand now, assume it was a terrorist attack,” she told reporters.

The truck rammed into wooden huts on Monday evening near the Kaiser Wilhelm memorial church, known as west Berlin’s most famous landmarks.

Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack. “The executor of the operation.. in Berlin is a soldier of the Islamic state and he executed the operation in response to calls to target nationals of the coalition countries,” the militant group said.