French police say six soldiers were wounded after the driver of a BMW car rammed into them outside their barracks in the Levallois-Perret suburb of Paris. After a manhunt was launched, the driver has been shot and arrested by police.

BMW plows into soldiers outside the barracks

As reported by CBS News, six soldiers were injured in the incident, with two receiving serious injuries, when the driver of a BMW car drove into them at 8 a.m. local time this morning.

Several hours later, following a major manhunt in the city, police tracked down a suspect on the A16 highway out of the city.

According to officials, police were stopping vehicles on the highway, looking for the suspect. When the officers encountered a man who is thought to be the suspect, police opened fire on the man before taking him into custody. So far the driver’s condition is unknown. However, the prosecutor’s office in Paris confirmed to media that a terrorism investigation is underway relating to the attack.

Deliberate attack on the soldiers

France24 quotes a spokesman for the Paris police as saying while the driver appeared to deliberately target the soldiers the motive for the attack is still unclear.

At that time police were checking surveillance video footage in the area in an attempt to identify the driver. Patrick Balkany, Mayor of Levallois, denounced the “odious” attack on French TV, saying it was clear the attack was deliberate.

According to witnesses at the scene, a BMW was parked in a cul-de-sac close by with one person inside it.

It was reported as the group of six soldiers came out of the building to start their shift that the attacker drove into them.

A history of terror attacks in France

While the motive for the attack is unknown, French media reports that the soldiers targeted to form a part of Operation Sentinelle, a security measure set up after the Terror Attack on workers at the Charlie Hebdo magazine in January 2015.

The group was reinforced following the November 2015 terror attacks on several restaurants and bars in Paris, as well as the Bataclan concert hall. Those attacks saw 130 people dead. In July 2016, a further terrorist attack saw a man ramming a truck through a crowd of revelers enjoying a firework display in Nice, with 80 people killed.

As noted by France24, several smaller, “lone wolf” attacks have occurred in Paris including an 18-year-old man who was arrested Saturday after brandishing a knife at the Eiffel Tower. The man shouted “Allahu Akbar” (God is great) before being arrested and telling police that he wanted to kill a soldier.
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED