Attempted terror attack in Paris

In a new incident suspected to be a terror attack, a car deliberately rammed into a police van on the Avenue des Champs-Elysées in Paris. The driver, who has been on a security watchlist for his affiliation to a radical Islamist movement, died on the spot. No one else was injured. Police say they found a Kalashnikov rifle, a few handguns and some gas bottles in the car. 

Interior Minister Gérard Collomb called it an “attempted attack” and remarked how security forces have previously been targeted, most recently in an attack before the first round of presidential elections in France in April, where a policeman was shot dead and two others were injured.

The Avenue des Champs-Elysées usually has security round-the-clock, as the president’s official residence, the Elysée Palace, and the US embassy are within close range.