Car crashes into soldiers in Paris, 6 injured (Lead)

Paris Aug 9 (IANS) A car crashed into a group of French soldiers patrolling a suburb of Paris on Wednesday injuring six of them media reported.

The servicemen were struck by the vehicle at 8.30 a.m. in the Levallois-Perret area of the French capital. A police operation was underway to find the car and the driver involved in the incident BBC reported.

Half a dozen soldiers were wounded in the incident that took place in front of the barracks where a 50-member detachment of Operation Sentinelle -- set up after the November 2015 terrorist attacks in Paris -- was stationed.

Two of the victims suffered serious injuries while the other four sustained light wounds police said.

It is not yet known if the incident was a terrorist attack or an accident local media reports said.

In statements to France Info radio station Levallois Perret Mayor Patrick Balkany called the attack an "intolerable aggression" against soldiers and described it as "shameful".

"Without any doubt it was a deliberate act " Balkany told BFM TV.

A BMW parked nearby appeared to have been waiting for the soldiers to begin their patrol and "accelerated very quickly the moment they came out " the Mayor said.

--IANS
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--IANS
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