Bomb scare at German Christmas market

A Christmas market in the German city of Potsdam was evacuated on Friday after a nail-packed device was found in a nearby shop.

Brandenburg’s interior minister, Karl-Heinz Schröter, said that the device, which contained batteries and a powder, was sent to a pharmacy in the city south-west of Berlin.

Schröter said that police were searching the area in case more devices were sent.

"We just don't know at this point if this was a device that could have actually exploded, or a fake, or a test," he said.

Police initially said there were explosives inside the device, but then clarified there was no detonator. They have no warned of speculation, and told people to avoid "premature conclusions".

Germany is on high alert for potential terrorist attacks nearly a year after a Tunisian Islamist hijacked a truck, killed the driver and rammed into a Christmas market in Berlin, killing 11 people.

Germany's interior ministry said this week that the risk of an attack on its territory or in Europe was "continuously high".