Islamic State media releases video of Berlin truck attack suspect

On Friday, the Islamic State's Amaq news agency released a video of Anis Amri, the 24-year-old Turkish man suspected of carrying out Monday's deadly truck attack in Berlin, pledging his allegiance to ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. In the video, Amri, who was killed Friday in a shootout with Italian police in Milan, is standing in northern Berlin, not far from where he allegedly hijacked the truck he then plowed into a Christmas market Monday. He killed 12 and injured nearly 50 in the attack.

The video raises questions about whether Amri was in contact with the terrorist group before his actions at the Christmas market. BILD journalist Björn Stritzel noted Amri is wearing headphones in the video, which suggests he may have been talking to someone while he recorded:

CNN also reported documents indicate Amri was "part of an ISIS recruitment network" in Germany centered around the radical preacher Abu Walaa, who "styled himself as ISIS's representative" to the country. The network reportedly helped train young adults interested in jihad to travel to join ISIS.

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Amri allegedly planned to travel to join ISIS in late 2015, but for an unknown reason he ultimately did not make the trip. Investigative files indicate Amri may have communicated with the extremist group using an encryption app while in Germany, and he also began plotting an attack in Germany after his travel plans unraveled, a plan one of the German network's leaders allegedly supported.

In the video, which seems to have been taken by Amri himself, he vows to fight against "the Crusader pigs" who have bombed Muslims. It is unclear whether the video was taken before or after Monday's attack.