Man arrested after driver attempts to hit soldiers in south-east France near Grenoble

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The base of the 93rd Mountain Artillery Regiment in Varces (Google Street View)

A man has been arrested after a driver attempted to run over a number of soldiers in southern France, according to local media.

No one in the group of 10 soldiers was hurt, multiple reports said.

It took place in the Varces-Allières-et-Risset area south of Grenoble at about 9am local time.

The soldiers from the 27th Mountain Battalion were returning from a jog near their base at the time.

Officials said the reason for the driver's actions was unknown and that it was unclear whether the military had been targeted specifically.

The driver first shouted at groups of soldiers near the barracks, an army spokesman said, before returning later and attempting to hit them.

A man was later arrested in Grenoble, officials said.

It comes less than a week after a gunman killed four people, including a police officer, in a terrorist attack in Trèbes.

“Given the context, the incident is being taken seriously but we don’t know his motivations,” a source told Reuters on Thursday.

Funerals for the Trèbes victims were due to take place on Thursday, a day after president Emmanuel Macron led a memorial to Lt Col Arnaud Beltrame, the gendarme who traded himself for hostages during last Friday's siege and subsequently died.