A French soldier has opened fire after a man tried to enter the Louvre museum in Paris carrying two backpacks. A police source told Reuters news agency the man was armed with a machete and tried to get into an underground shop at the museum at around 10am local time.
Paris' police chief said the attacker was carrying two backpacks and shouted "Allahu akbar" as he "launched" himself at the soldier in the Carrousel du Louvre area of the museum. The soldier fired five times, hitting the man in the legs and stomach and seriously injuring him.
A second person has been detained after they were spotted behaving suspiciously near the scene, the police chief said. France's interior ministry said on Twitter that a serious security incident was under way at the popular attraction, which has been cordoned off.
The soldier was part of Operation Sentinelle, the massive deployment of French military on the streets after the terror attacks in France in 2015 and 2016. He is understood to have been slightly injured in the attack.
Europe 1 radio station reported that bomb disposal officers were at the scene, but the police chief said the bags did not contain explosives. France has been on its highest state of alert following terror attacks in Paris and Nice in the last two years.
In January 2015, 17 people were killed when gunmen attacked the offices of the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo in Paris and shoppers at a Jewish supermarket.
In November 2015, gunmen and suicide bombers linked to Islamic State attacked bars, restaurants, the Bataclan concert hall and the national stadium in the French capital, killing 130 people.
Last July, a Tunisian man drove a lorry through crowds celebrating Bastille Day in Nice, killing 86 people.
