A man shouted death threats from his car window at several groups of French soldiers out for a Thursday morning jog in the French Alps, then tried to run two of them over, a military spokesman said.

Col. Benoit Brulot, a French Army spokesman, told the AP that the driver circled the military barracks in Varces-Allieres-et-Risset, in the southeastern Isere region, shouting at groups of soldiers. He returned later and tried to hit the two soldiers with his car before making a quick getaway.

 

Brulot said that none of the soldiers, from the 27th Mountain Infantry Brigade, was injured.

 

Authorities are on high alert as the incident occurred one week after an Islamic extremist shot at police returning from jogging in southern France, before taking hostages in a supermarket in an attack that claimed four lives.

 

Brulot said several of the soldiers were questioned Thursday morning by gendarmes in nearby Grenoble. The motives for the attempted attack are currently unclear.

 

Jean-Luc Corbet, mayor of Varces-Allieres-et-Risset, told BFM-TV authorities are currently searching for the vehicle and the driver and an inquiry has been opened in Grenoble.

 

 
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