Report: Hooded gunmen fire on police in Marseille

Footage from Marseille shows police remonstrating with parents outside a school that was evacuated following an apparent drug-related shooting incident in the city today.

A school in Marseille has been evacuated by French police responding to an incident in which they were fired on by gunmen armed with Kalashnikov rifles.

Caroline Pozmentier, deputy mayor of the city, suggested the shootings were linked to a problem related to drug trafficking. She told Reuters:

Riot police have now blocked off the Castellane housing project in the north of the city following the incident.

French prime minister Manuel Valls was due to visit France's second-largest city to talk about security and education.

Police can be seen gathered at the scene of a reported shooting in the French city of Marseille in footage posted on the Daily Motion website.

Hooded gunmen armed with Kalashnikov rifles fired on police in the French city of Marseille, where Prime Minister Manuel Valls was paying a visit on Monday, a police source told Reuters.

Elite police trooops are being sent to the scene, in the northern suburbs of the Mediterranean port city, after the shots, Reuters said.

Hooded gunmen have fired at police in the French city of Marseille, where French Prime Minister Manuel Valls is due to visit, a police source told Reuters.