AFP GETTY AfD leader Frauke Petry said Angela Merkel is "finished" in the wake of the Berlin terror attack

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Twelve people died and 48 were injured when a lorry ploughed into Berlin’s Christmas market last night. German police released a 23-year-old Pakistani asylum seeker due to a lack of evidence, after arresting him hours after the attack. Politicians were quick to link the tragedy with Angela Merkel’s open-door immigration policy, which saw one million migrants enter Germany last year. Alternative for Deutscheland (AfD) chairwoman Frauke Petry said the country was no longer safe and "radical Islamic terrorism has struck in the heart of Germany" following the Berlin terror attack.

We cannot go on denying there is a link between Merkel's migration policy and these attacks Frauke Petry

Ms Petry told the Telegraph: "This is a terrible day, but it is not completely unexpected given the warnings from the security authorities, including about the prospect of an attack on Berlin. "We cannot go on denying there is a link between Merkel's migration policy and these attacks, or we will prepare that ground for more of these attacks." The anti-migrant party has seen support surge in local elections as the German Chancellor fights to take office for a fourth term. Ms Petry said: "People like to believe in the assumption that everything is okay, in order to persuade themselves that is the case.

"But it is clearly not. A recent polls showed that 80 per cent of Germans seriously reject Mrs Merkel's migration policy, even if they are not in the streets demonstrating about it. "Normal people are fed up with these incidents and the fear that the attacks are coming nearer and nearer to their homes.” Tensions have escalated in Germany following the New Year’s Eve Cologne sex attacks, which saw hundreds of women sexually assaulted and robbed by men described as of North African and Arab appearance. The AfD is expected to increase its vote share at next year’s election prompting Mrs Merkel to shift increasingly to the right to manager splits in her Christian Democrats party (CDU) and coalition partners the Social Democrats (SPD).

EPA Support for Frauke Petry's AfD party has increased in recent months

PHOTOTHEK Angela Merkel's immigration policy has been repeatedly criticised

Ms Petry argued Mrs Merkel’s burka ban and plans to send 100,000 asylum seekers home next year are as a result of the AfD’s soaring popularity. She said: "These measures are suddenly being taken by the CDU and the SPD because of us, even though they deny we are the reason - but these are already the hard results of the AfD. The party is far from irrelevant, it is changing Germany." The far-right leader said member’s of Mrs Merkel’s party already take about the end of her time as Chancellor. She said: "Merkel is finished and the younger ones like deputy finance minister Jens Spahn even say that her period is about to end. “The problem is that everyone in the CDU knows this, but they also know they don't have an alternative.

BERLIN TERROR: 'TWELVE' dead as truck crashed into crowd at Christmas market Tue, December 20, 2016 A truck crashed into a Christmas market in Berlin killing at least 12 and injuring 48 Play slideshow REUTERS•AFP 1 of 21 A truck crashed into a Christmas market in Berlin killing at least 12 and injuring 48