Man drives car at troops protecting mosque in southern France: mayor

France has been on high alert since Islamic State militants killed 130 people in Paris on November 13

PARIS: A soldier and a passer-by were slightly injured when a man tried to run his car into troops protecting a mosque in Valence in southern France on Friday, mayor Nicolas Daragon told the iTELE news channel.

The driver was also injured when the soldiers shot at him, Daragon said. The man was taken to hospital, and the mayor said his identity, motives and psychiatric state were not yet known.



The passer-by was injured by a stray bullet shot by the soldiers, he said.

"The four soldiers were in front of the mosque, a moderate, quiet mosque, in between two prayers, at a time when many worshippers arrived," Daragon said. "A car drove at them."

The driver tried twice to hit the soldiers and they shot at him on his second attempt, he said.



France has been on high alert since Islamic State militants killed 130 people in shootings and suicide bombings in Paris on Nov. 13.