German, French leaders pay tribute to extremist attack dead

German Chancellor Angela Merkel,left, and the President of France, Francois Hollande, lay down flowers to commemorate the victims of a terror attack on the Breitscheidplatz last December in Berlin, Germany, Friday, Jan. 27, 2017. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn) (The Associated Press)

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German Chancellor Angela Merkel,left, and French President Francois Hollande visit the site of the terror attack to lay flowers at Breitscheidplatz in Berlin, Germany, Friday, Jan. 27, 2017.( Monika Skolimowska/dpa via AP) (The Associated Press)

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, right, and the President of France, Francois Hollande, left, address the media during a joint statement as part of a meeting at the chancellery in Berlin, Germany, Friday, Jan. 27, 2017. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn) (The Associated Press)

BERLIN – German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande have paid tribute to the victims of a truck attack on a Christmas market in Berlin a month ago.

The two leaders placed flowers Friday at a makeshift memorial on the capital's Breitscheidplatz where a Tunisian man whose asylum application had been rejected drove a hijacked truck into the market, killing 12 and wounding dozens of others.

The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack.

At a joint press conference ahead of visiting the site, Merkel and Hollande said Islamic extremism was a problem for all of Europe, and vowed to work together to fight it.