Who is Abdul B., the suspect in the Berlin attack?

German police are still searching for the attacker who drove a van into the crowd at Berlin Pride last night, killing one person and injuring at least 16 people. According to initial findings by investigators, the main suspect is Abdul B., a 21-year-old man who is still on the run.

The police alert describes a young man aged 21, approximately one metre ninety tall, of a slender build, with black hair, who, in the images released by the authorities, is wearing a black hooded top and white trousers. Born in Berlin in 2005, Abdul B. is a German citizen of Lebanese origin. According to the DPA news agency, his family lives in Berlin, and the police have searched a flat in the Schöneberg district, though the suspect was not found there. He is reportedly still armed and dangerous, and the German authorities advise the public not to approach him if he is spotted and to call the emergency number.

Abdul was already known to the authorities for offences such as aggravated assault and extortion, for which he had been held in a youth detention centre until last May, and for being a supporter of the Islamic State, having long been suspected of being part of an Islamist network in the German capital. The Bild newspaper also reports that the German authorities have extended their manhunt to neighbouring countries, alerting the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, France, Austria, Switzerland, the Czech Republic, Poland and Denmark.

Last May, Abdul was released from a juvenile detention centre where he had been held. It is unclear whether he acted alone in the Pride attack, or whether he was driving the van used in the attack, which the police say was a privately owned vehicle rather than a hire van. According to the police, the suspect is no longer in the area.