Police in France launch terror manhunt after car hits soldiers

French police are hunting the driver of a BMW which ploughed into a group of French soldiers in western Paris.

Six of the dozen or so troops were injured - two of them seriously - in the attack which is being investigated by counter-terrorism officials.

It happened near the Place de Verdun in the Levallois-Perret suburb of the French capital at around 8am local time.

A search is also ongoing for the dark-coloured vehicle which is said to have been driven at the group at speed as they left their barracks to go on patrol.

Mayor of Levallois-Perret, Patrick Balkany, condemned the attack as "an odious act of aggression", adding: "Without any doubt, it was a deliberate act."

"It all happened very quickly. The vehicle did not stop. It hurtled at them... it accelerated rapidly," he told broadcaster BFMTV.

🔴 Incident à Levallois Perret : intervention de #Police en cours. Un véhicule est recherché

— Préfecture de police (@prefpolice) August 9, 2017

Officers and soldiers secured the scene - around three miles from city centre landmarks such as the Eiffel Tower - as forensic teams combed the area for evidence and clues.

Investigators were also scouring through CCTV footage from the suburb.

The Paris prosecutor's office said it was pursuing perpetrators on charges of the attempted murder of security forces in connection with a terrorist enterprise.

It means authorities believe the attack was deliberate and planned with a terror-related motive.

France has been under a state of emergency since the November 2015 attacks in the city which left 130 people dead.

The soldiers, who were taken to a military hospital, were on duty as part of Operation Sentinelle, created to guard prominent French sites after the Charlie Hebdo attack in January 2015.