EIGHT PEOPLE INCLUDING a girl were wounded late last night in a shooting in front of a mosque in the southeast French city of Avignon, but terrorism has been ruled out.

According to initial accounts taken on the spot, at least two men got out of a car around 10.30 pm near the mosque and opened fire, including with a shotgun, the prosecutor’s office said.

None of the wounded had life-threatening injuries, it said.

“From what we know this evening, the mosque was not targeted. The fact that it happened in the street of the religious establishment was unconnected with it,” the prosecutor said, ruling out terrorism.

Witness accounts mentioned four men in the car, all hooded.

The criminal investigation department has taken charge of the case.

The shooting comes a few days after a man attempted to drive his car into worshippers outside the Creteil mosque in southeast Paris last Thursday.

The driver, a 43-year-old Armenian who suffered from schizophrenia, hit barriers and pillars outside the mosque with his 4×4 without causing any injuries before crashing into a traffic island.

Not terrorism

According to a source close to the investigation, the suspect had made “confused remarks in relation” to a string of jihadist attacks that have struck France, killing 239 people since 2015.

Following a van attack against worshippers leaving Finsbury Park Mosque in London on June 19 which left one dead and 11 injured, France’s Muslim community has also felt threatened.

Some Muslim officials have described the Paris incident as an attack and called on the authorities to “strengthen protection of places of worship”.

The Paris police commissioner reiterated his orders for vigilance in protecting Muslim places of worship.

- © AFP, 2017

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