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Man shot, arrested over car attack on soldiers in Paris

Published : 09 Aug 2017, 19:53

  DF-Xinhua Report
Policemen are seen near the attack site in Levallois-Perret, France on Aug. 9, 2017. A vehicle burst into a group of French sentinel operation soldiers Wednesday morning in northwestern Paris and injured six before fleeing the scene. Photo Xinhua.

A man in a getaway vehicle was injured during his arrest on the A16 motorway in northern France following a car attack on military soldiers in Levallois-Perret (Hauts-de-Seine, north of Paris) on Wednesday morning, according to local media.

An exchange of fire took place between the police and the suspected driver of the car, which had ploughed into six soldiers earlier on Wednesday. Four soldiers sustained light injuries and two were seriously wounded in the deliberate attack.

The suspect was shot and wounded, as was a police officer. Investigators are trying to verify whether the driver is indeed the one who carried out the attack.

According to local newspaper Le Parisien, the BMW was spotted in the early afternoon on the A16 motorway between Boulogne-sur-Mer and Calais.

The plate number and a sticker on the car corresponded to the vehicle described by witnesses.

The 37-year-old man was arrested by BIS agents and is "likely to be the perpetrator" of the attack, according to a judicial source quoted by Le Parisian.

An investigation has been opened for attempted murders in connection with terrorism.