The Latest: Mayor says car hitting soldiers was deliberate

PARIS – The Latest on an attack on soldiers in a Paris suburb (all times local):

9:50 a.m.

The mayor of a Paris suburb where a vehicle ran down six soldiers says it was a deliberate act targeting security forces.

Levallois Mayor Patrick Balkany denounced on BFM television what he called an "odious attack" and said it was "without a doubt deliberate."

Authorities are searching for the driver and vehicle, which drove away after the incident at Place de Verdun in Levallois, on the northwest edge of Paris.

It targeted soldiers from the Sentinelle security force created after Islamic extremist attacks in 2015.

The incident comes four days after a teenager with psychiatric problems tried to attack security forces guarding the Eiffel Tower.

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9:40 a.m.

French police say a vehicle slammed into soldiers guarding a Paris suburb, injuring six of them, before getting away.

Authorities are now searching for the vehicle and driver after the Wednesday incident, according to a Paris police spokesman.

The vehicle appeared to clearly target the soldiers but the motive is unclear, the spokesman said. The official was not authorized to be publicly named according to police policy.

Four people were injured lightly, two more seriously, the spokesman said.

The incident in Levallois, northwest of Paris, is the latest of several attacks targeting security forces in France guarding sites after a string of deadly attacks.