Berlin attack: Released Pakistani suspect hails from Balochistan

Islamabad: Cousin of Naveed Baloch, the Pakistani who was detained briefly by German police over suspicion that he was involved in the killings in the Berlin market attack, said that his brother hailed from Kech district of Balochistan.

"Naveed Baloch came to Germany to seek asylum due to the ongoing insurgency in different areas of Balochistan," Abdul Waheed Baloch told Dawn.

Waheed said he, Naveed and another friend were crossing a road in the area where the deadly incident took place when police stopped them and said that they would be fined for a traffic violation and later on, Naveed was taken into custody.

Immediately, television news channels began running with newsbreaks that Naveed had been arrested and was a suspect in the case.

"Naveed was associated with the Baloch National Movement before leaving for Germany," Waheed said, adding that his father was living in a village close to the Pak-Iran border.

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

German authorities on Tuesday released the Pakistani asylum-seeker suspected of driving a truck into a Berlin Christmas market and killing 12 people due to a lack of evidence.