PARIS (Sputnik) — French police arrested the owner of a vehicle, which was used in an attempt to hit a group of soldiers in country's southeastern Isere department earlier on Thursday, the BFMTV broadcaster reported.
Another man, the driver, was arrested earlier in the day at his house in Grenoble.
It was earlier reported that a man attempted to ram his car into French military from the 93rd Mountain Artillery Regiment, who have been jogging in France's Varces-Allières-et-Risset, Isère, on Thursday morning.
Nobody was reportedly injured in the incident, while the driver of a black Peugeot car escaped from the site, while manhunt is underway.
According to France Info, "there has been no information so far whether it was a terrorist attack or not."
Driver tries to drive vehicle into a group of French soldiers in Varces: None hurt, manhunt underway https://t.co/tN8h8C5wie pic.twitter.com/ycVCRAq0jU via @AmichaiStein1 #France
— Liveuamap World (@lumworld) March 29, 2018
It was not immediately clear what has been the reason behind the incident, which took place near a military barrack just days after the terrorist attack in southern France.
Isère: une voiture fonce sur des militaires à côté de la caserne de Varces, l'auteur en fuite
— France Bleu Isère (@bleu_isere) March 29, 2018
→https://t.co/jmsZWbHgg1 #isere #varces #militaires pic.twitter.com/T2F7UWXTwD
On March 23, Redouane Lakdim, a 26-year-old Moroccan national who reportedly obtained a French citizenship in 2015, hijacked a car in the city of Carcassonne and then took several people hostage at a supermarket in Trebes. In total, Lakdim killed four people, including a police officer who swapped himself for a hostage. The attacker was killed by police as they stormed the supermarket.
READ MORE: What We Know So Far About French Hostage Taker, Self-Proclaimed Daesh 'Soldier'
France had been in the state of emergency since the 2015 terrorist attacks in Paris, which was lifted in November 2017. However, French soldiers have continued to patrol major tourist sites as part of a counterterrorism mission.
*Daesh, also known as ISIS, Islamic State, IS is a terrorist group banned in Russia
