French customs officer shot dead by suspected weapons smuggler in Toulon

France remains in a high state of alert following the Paris attacks

French policemen patrol on the Champs-Elysees avenue (BERTRAND GUAY/AFP/Getty Images)

A French customs officer has been shot dead in the southern city of Toulon by a suspected weapons smuggler.

Two police officers were also injured in the incident shortly after 11am local time today.

The Var-Matin newspaper reported that a man who had been “monitored” by customs opened fire as police tried to arrest him at his home in the Saint Jean du Var area.

As he fled, he allegedly shot at officers multiple times with an M16 assault rifle, killing the customs officer and wounding police before he was arrested.

French media reported that the operation was linked to weapons smuggling in the city, which lies east of Marseille in Provence and houses a major naval base.

France 3 reported that the case has no connection to the Paris attacks, where 130 people were killed in shootings and suicide bombings on 13 November.

One of the suspected attackers, Salah Abdeslam, remains at large today and his home city of Brussels is in a state of high alert.

The Belgian capital’s underground system has been shut, municipal buildings and tourist attractions closed, and residents urged not to gather in large numbers amid fears of another Paris-style atrocity.