Valls swears French police attackers will be punished as officer fights for life

French Prime Minister Manuel Valls promised that the perpetrators of this weekend's arson attack on four police officers that has left one fighting for his life will be hunted down and punished on a visit to the area on Monday.

French Prime Minister Manuel Valls (2nd L) arrives at the Evry police station with mayor Francis Chouat (R) and Prefet of the Esonne Josiane Chevalier AFP/Thomas Samson

"These individuals will be found, taken to court and very severely punished because when you attack police officers ... you're quite simply attacking France," Valls said on a visit to the police station where the 28-year-old officer who suffered 30 percent burns in Saturday's attack was based.

Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve accompanied Valls on a tour of the four police stations where the officers who were attacked worked.

The 39-year-old police officer and mother of three who was in the same vehicle suffered very serious burns to the hands and face was out of danger.

They were attacked with Molotov cocktails at a crossroads near a housing estate with a high crime rate, largely because of the drugs trade.

The crossroads, which is the scene of frequent muggings of motorists, was subject to CCTV surveillance but the cameras were frequently put out of action by local criminals.

Cannabis seized

Two other police officers who came to their colleagues' aid were also attacked and suffered burns, although less serious ones.

Valls claimed that the attack was one of several incidents sparked by the recent seizure of 62 kilos of cannabis resin.

Cazeneuve, who had to go to London to meet his British counterpart Amber Rudd during the afternoon, promised to return and join Valls in a visit to the hospitalised officers in the evening.

He announced that 45 extra police officers would be deployed in the area before the end of the year, a figure deemed insufficient by police trade union Alliance.

The mainstream right Republicans party called on Cazeneuve to resign over the incident on Monday, judging that his response had not been sufficiently robust and that he "no longer enjoys the confidence of the police force".