BREAKING NEWS: Six soldiers wounded after a vehicle ploughs into them in Paris and then drives off as police launch hunt for the driver
- Six soldiers injured when car drive into their unit in Paris suburb
- Incident took place on Wednesday morning and the driver fled the scene
- Soldiers were part of anti-terrorism operation deployed after 2015 attacks
- Local mayor slammed attack as a 'deliberate, odious act of aggression'
By
Sara Malm for MailOnline
PUBLISHED: 08:19 BST, 9 August 2017 | UPDATED: 09:04 BST, 9 August 2017
Six French soldiers have been injured when they were run over by a car outside their barracks in Paris this morning.
The vehicle, a BMW, rammed the group as they were leaving their barracks in Levallois-Perret, a northwestern suburb of the French capital, Paris police have said.
Two soldiers are reported to have been seriously injured in the incident, which took place at about 8am local time.
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Deliberate: Six soldiers suffered injuries when a BMW slammed into them outside their barracks in a northwestern suburb of Paris, with two of them seriously hurt
The mayor of Levallois-Perret, Patrick Balkany, said the incident had 'without any doubt' been deliberate.
'It's an odious act of aggression,' Balkany told BFM TV.
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The driver fled the scene and security services are currently looking for them and the vehicle.
The soldiers are part of Opération Sentinelle, an anti-terrorism operation deployed following the 2015 attacks in Paris.
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Attack: Police work near the scene where French soldiers were hit in what the local mayor has branded a 'deliberate, odious act of aggression'
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Targeted: he soldiers were all members of an anti-terrorism operation which has been deployed in Paris since the Charlie Hebdo attacks in January 2015
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Incident: The car was allegedly purposely driven into the group of soldiers as they left their barracks in Levallois-Perret, a suburb of the French capital
France has been under a state of emergency since November 2015 and has seen a string of attacks on Opération Sentinelle forces who have been regularly targeted, 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 later told investigators he wanted to kill a soldier.
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Injured: The soldiers were hit leaving their barracks, pictured, at 8am on Wednesday
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The area outside the barracks can be seen cordoned off as security services patrol the scene
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.
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