In suburban Paris, soldiers were attacked Wednesday when a car ran into them near their barracks outside of Paris, seriously hurting two people and injuring four more.
Patrick Balkany, mayor of Levallois-Perret, said that he witnessed a BMW drive into the group of soldiers and has "no doubt" it was a deliberate act, The Telegraph reported. The vehicle sped away after the incident that happened about 6 a.m. local time.
The officers had just left a building to approach their vehicles to start a new patrol shift. The Guardian reported.
"Police intervention is underway," Paris police said in a statement on Twitter. "Search (is) underway for vehicle."
Balkany told The Guardian that he believed that the act was done with intent and "deliberate aggression."
"It's without doubt a deliberate act … This vehicle was waiting for them," the mayor told The Guardian. "The BMW accelerated very quickly the moment they came out. This happened in the middle of the town. It happened very quickly. Levallois is a calm place … this is an odious aggression against our military that nobody expected."
France defense minister, Florence Parly told The Guardian the incident Wednesday morning was a "cowardly act," but the soldiers will continue to work "for the security of the French people."
"Security forces are actively seeking the perpetrator, who is on the run. The ongoing probe will determine his motives and the circumstances in which he acted," Parly continued.
France has been under a state of emergency since November 2015 when terrorists attacked fans at a soccer stadium and concert hall in coordinated attacks that killed at least 128 people, The Telegraph noted.
Since then, France had suffered smaller attacks by terrorists, including an attack in Nice, France, during Bastille Day celebration in 2016. In that incident, about 80 people died when a driver stole a large trailer and plowed through a crowd that that was celebrating the holiday, CNN reported.