GERMAN Chancellor Angela Merkel is facing a backlash after 12 people were killed when an attacker ploughed through innocent revellers at a Christmas market in a truck.

The country's far-right leaders have blasted the chancellor's "open-door" immigration policy for sparking the attack in Berlin - and even her own party is putting the boot in.

7 Angela Merkel appeared to break down in the aftermath of the attack today Credit: EPA

7 German Chancellor Angela Merkel attended the scene of the truck attack which killed a dozen people Credit: Getty Images

“These are Merkel’s dead,” Marcus Pretzell, chairman of the Alternative for Germany party in the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia, posted on Twitter.

And Klaus Bouillon of Mrs Merkel's CDU party said told Saarland radio: "We must state that we are in a state of war, although some people who want to see only the good can not see."

Merkel - who attended an award ceremony to celebrate the International Day of Migrants the day of the attack - said she was "shocked and shaken" by the tragedy.

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The open-door approach, criticised by political allies and foes, may seal Merkel's fate if the attacker turns out to be a migrant let into the country.

A series of violent attacks and sexual offences involving migrants has hardened the German public's attitude.

On New Year's Eve 2015 hundreds of sexual assaults, including at least 24 rapes, and numerous thefts were reported in Germany, mainly in Cologne city centre. Similar incidents were reported in Hamburg, Frankfurt, Dortmund, Düsseldorf, Stuttgart, and Bielefeld.

On July 18 a 17-year-old Afghan refugee wielding an axe and a knife attacks passengers on a train in southern Germany, severely wounding four, before being shot dead by police. Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack.

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