Berlin 2016 terror attack: Background still unclear | DW News

On December 19, 2016, Islamist attacker Anis Amri drove a stolen truck through a crowd in central Berlin, killing and injuring dozens. Five years later, the background to the attack remains unclear.

The bells of Berlin's Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church on Breitscheidplatz will ring 13 times this Sunday at exactly 8:02 p.m., once for each of the victims of the 2016 terror attack at a nearby Christmas market.

The time marks the moment when Islamist attacker Anis Amri raced through the festive event on December 19, 2016 in a stolen semitrailer truck, killing and injuring dozens. That day marked the moment the moment when many Germans realized that terrorism could also affect them at home.

Since that day, one of the most serious Islamist attacks in the country to date, a memorial has been created to remember the victims. A gold-colored crack in the ground marks the truck's path, measuring more than 15 meters (49 feet) in length; the names of the dead are engraved on the steps leading up to the church. Originally there were 12 names, but a 13th was added earlier this year after a first responder died from the severe injuries he sustained during the attack.

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