HIGHLIGHT
Soldiers in Paris repelled an attack by man who tried to attack them.
A French soldier guarding the Louvre in Paris has shot a man who tried to attack a security patrol with a machete shouting “Allahu Akbar”, police say.
The man, who tried to gain entry to the Louvre’s shopping centre, was shot in the abdomen and seriously injured.
One soldier received a head injury.
Prime Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said the attack was “terrorist in nature”. The Louvre, home to numerous celebrated art works, is the most visited museum in the world.
Police say five shots were fired at the man, who was taken to hospital.
Two rucksacks belonging to the suspected attacker have been inspected but no explosives were found. A second person has been arrested.
Two-hundred-and-fifty visitors were in the Louvre at the time were evacuated gradually after security checks.
As the attack unfolded, they were told by security staff to crouch on the floor.
France has been on a high state of alert since the Paris attacks of 2015.
A series of assaults by gunmen and suicide bombers claimed by so-called Islamic State killed 130 people in November 2015, reports the BBC.
In January of the same year, 17 people were killed in an attack on the Charlie Hebdo magazine and linked shootings.
