Berlin attack: Police hunt Tunisian suspect after finding ID papers in truck

Police are searching for a Tunisian man in his early 20s in connection with the Berlin Christmas market attack, a German security official told CNN on Wednesday.

The suspect's identity papers were found inside the cabin of the truck used in Monday's attack, which left 12 people dead and 48 injured, the official said. The man was born in 1992, he said.

An urgent manhunt is underway for the suspect, who is potentially armed and dangerous, before he can strike again, CNN terrorism analyst Paul Cruickshank said.

German Interior Minister Thomas de Maizière confirmed that a new suspect was being sought in connection with the attack but declined to confirm his identity. He told reporters a manhunt for the suspect had been underway in Germany and across Europe since midnight.

German police carried out raids Wednesday in connection with the investigation in Germany's North Rhine-Westphalia region, where the Tunisian suspect had stayed, another security official told CNN. The official said the suspect was not yet in custody.

A German security official told CNN the suspect had been arrested in the southern German town of Friedrichshafen in August with forged documents on his way to Italy but was released by a judge.

The suspect also came onto the radar of German police at a certain point because he was looking for a gun, the official said.

Police appeal for photos, videos

Police have appealed to the public for any digital videos and photos they have of the attack or possible suspects. They tweeted Tuesday they were investigating 508 leads.

On Tuesday evening, police released an asylum-seeker believed to be from Pakistan who had been detained in the immediate aftermath of the truck attack. According to German media, witnesses had said he had been driving the truck.

But Peter Frank, general prosecutor at Germany's Federal Court of Justice, said that forensic tests offered no link between the man and the truck's cabin.