Tunisia arrests 3 linked to Berlin truck killer

Spain investigating possible links to a network there; Italian victim arrives home for burial

MILAN, Italy — Tunisia’s Interior Ministry said Saturday that police have arrested the nephew of Anis Amri and two others suspected of belonging to the same extremist network.

The ministry says in a statement that Amri — suspected of driving a truck into a Christmas market crowd in Berlin, killing 12 — had sent his 18-year-old nephew Fedi money to join him in Europe. It is unclear whether the suspects helped Amri flee Berlin.

The nephew was arrested in Amri’s hometown of Oueslatia while the others were arrested in Tunis. The arrests occurred Saturday.

Meanwhile, Spain’s Interior Minister says police are investigating whether the Amri was in contact with another possible extremist in Spain.

Interior Minister Juan Ignacio Zoido told Spanish radio station Cope that Spanish police are looking into a tip passed on by German authorities that Anis Amri had developed a contact in Spain.

Zoido said “we are studying all possible connections (between Amri) and our country, above all with one specific person.”

On Monday, Amri’s fingerprints and wallet were found in a truck that plowed into a Christmas market in Berlin, killing 12 people and injuring 56 others. After fleeing from Germany and through France, he was shot dead by Italian police in Milan on Friday.

The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for Monday’s attack.

Also Saturday, a casket containing the body of the Italian victim of the truck attack on a Christmas market in Berlin has arrived in Rome.

The body of Fabrizia di Lorenzo, 31, arrived at Rome’s Ciampino airport at midday, five days after she was killed.

Gerardo Di Agostino touches the coffin of his sister Italian victim Fabrizia Di Lorenzo, as her parents Gaetano Di Lorenzo, second from right hugs his wife Giovanna, right, upon their return from Berlin at Rome's military airport of Ciampino, Saturday, Dec. 24, 2016. Di Lorenzo, 31, is among the 12 people who perished when a truck plowed through a Christmas market in Berlin last Monday. (Giuseppe Lami/ANSA via AP) — Gerardo Di Agostino touches the coffin of his sister Italian victim Fabrizia Di Lorenzo, as her parents Gaetano Di Lorenzo, second from right hugs his wife Giovanna, right, upon their return from Berlin at Rome’s military airport of Ciampino, Saturday, Dec. 24, 2016. Di Lorenzo, 31, is among the 12 people who perished when a truck plowed through a Christmas market in Berlin last Monday. (Giuseppe Lami/ANSA via AP)

Di Lorenzo had been living in Berlin and went to the Christmas market to buy presents to celebrate the holiday with family in her hometown of Sulmona, in central Italy.