The manhunt for a suspected terrorist who killed two and left a third victim with irreversible brain damage in Strasbourg, eastern France, spread to Germany on Wednesday as authorities confirmed he shouted “Allahu Akbar” before opening fire.

Another 12 people were injured, with at least two in a critical condition from head injuries.

The Strasbourg-born suspect has been named as 29-year-old Cherif Chekatt, who is believed to have gone on the" killing spree with a gun and long knife near the city’s famed Christmas market, visited by two million people every year.

Speaking after the attack Emmanuel Macron, the French president, said: “The terrorist threat is still at the heart of the life of our nation.”

As police launched a call for witnesses and 720 officers hunted for the suspect, questions were raised last night as to why he was considered a potentially dangerous radical in France but nothing more than a common criminal in Germany.

Rémy Heitz, the Paris prosecutor, said the suspect had 27 previous convictions in France, Germany and Switzerland for theft and armed robbery.