Italian Foreign Minister Angelino Alfano has expressed his condolences to the German government after the deadly attack at a Christmas market in Berlin on Monday.

"I am profoundly struck and feel painful by the news of this evening's attack in Berlin," Alfano said late on Monday.

"I want to express my most heart-felt condolences and the warmest solidarity to the German government," he said.

A truck ploughed into the Christmas market crowd in the heart of Berlin on Monday, killing 12 people and injuring 48.

source: Xinhua