Six injured after car slams into soldiers in Paris suburb
Six people were injured, two of them seriously, after a car slammed into soldiers on patrol in the northwestern Paris suburb of Levallois-Perret on Wednesday, police said.
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The vehicle took off after the incident, which took place at about 8:00 am.
French police have launched a manhunt following the incident which the mayor of Levallois-Peret, Patrick Balkany, described as “without a doubt a deliberate act”. Balkany told the news channel BFMTV that the car “accelerated very fast when they (soldiers) were coming out” of the barracks.
French Defence Minister Florence Parly condemned the incident as a “cowardly act”. The incident “does nothing to dent soldiers’ determination to work for the security of the French people,” she said in a statement.
France has been under a state of emergency since November 2015 and has seen a string of attacks on security forces, particularly those guarding key tourist sites.
An 18-year-old with a history of psychological problems was arrested on Saturday at the Eiffel Tower after brandishing a knife and shouting “Allahu Akbar” (God is Greatest).
He told investigators he wanted to kill a soldier, sources told the news agency AFP.
In February, a man armed with a machete attacked four soldiers on patrol at Paris's Louvre Museum, while in April another extremist shot and killed a policeman on the Champs Elysees.
In June, a 40-year-old Algeria doctorate student who had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group attacked a policeman with a hammer outside Notre Dame cathedral.
- with AFP
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