Man tries to drive car into crowd in front of French mosque

A man was arrested after trying to drive a car into a crowd  of people in front of a mosque in the Paris on Thursday, police said.

No one was injured in the attack in the Parisian suburb of Creteil.

Police said the man’s motives were unclear, and that he had not succeeded in driving into the crowd because of barriers placed in front of the mosque.

According to Le Parisien newspaper, the man said he had wanted to avenge attacks linked to Islamic State that have killed dozens in Paris over the past years.

A witness told Le Parisien: “We saw the car drive three times round the mosque – it was very strange – and suddenly it drove very fast. As far as I could see, it was clearly trying to knock down the pedestrians.

After crashing into another car, the man fled the scene but was arrested at his home.

Michel Delpuech, the head of Paris police, condemned the attack and said an investigation had been started to examine the reasons for the attack and what criminal charges could be brought.