France to deploy 300 extra troops after wave of attacks

A man who drove a van into a crowded Christmas market in France, killing one person and injuring nine others, reportedly asked his future victims for forgiveness in a notebook found in his vehicle.

According to a report in Le Monde, the driver believed he was being followed by the French intelligence services and that his attack was the only way he felt he could be heard by society.

A 25-year-old man has died of his injures after a driver went on a rampage in a busy Christmas market in the French city of Nantes late last night.

Another nine people were injured. The attacker survived and is being questioned by police.

One of those injured after a driver went on a rampage in the French city of Nantes has been declared "clinically dead," the AFP news agency reports.

Another nine people were wounded following the incident at a crowded Christmas market late on Monday night.

France is to deploy up to 300 extra soldiers to patrol after three attacks in as many days, the Prime Minister Manuel Valls has said according to Agence France-Presse reports.

• Read more: Eleven injured after van drives into French market

• Read more: Man shouting 'Allahu Akbar' drives into crowd in France

• Read more: French probe terror link to attacker killed at police station

The van that crashed into shoppers at a Christmas market in Nantes, France, this evening "drove at speed" towards a stall selling mulled wine, local newspaper Presse Ocean reported.

The incident comes just a day after an incident in which a driver shouting "God is great" in Arabic drove into a crowd of people in the eastern French city of Dijon, leaving 11 people injured, two seriously.

Ten people have been injured at a Christmas market in Nantes, western France, after a man drove a van into shoppers, Reuters reported, citing an official at the local prefecture.

Five people suffered serious injuries, including the driver, the official said.

According to local newspaper Ouest France, citing a police officer and witnesses on the scene, the driver of the white van shouted "Allahu Akbar" ("God is greatest" in Arabic) and then stabbed himself with a knife.

The Christmas market was evacuated and secured by police.

Security measures for police and other authorities have been stepped up after a driver said to be shouting "God is great" slammed into crowds in a French city, injuring at least 11 people and raising national concern as Islamic extremists call for attacks.

The government said the man's motives were unclear but last night's incident in Dijon, in eastern France, came a day after a knife attack on police in another town being investigated by anti-terror officers.

Officials say a 40-year-old man had been arrested over last night's attack.

A driver said to be shouting "God is great" slammed into passers-by in several parts of Lyon, France, injuring 11 people and raising national concern.

The government said the man's motives were unclear but last night's incident came a day after an attack on officers in another town being investigated by anti-terror police and amid general concern after several threats by Islamic extremist groups calling for attacks against the country.

The Interior Ministry said a 40-year-old man had been arrested over last night's attack.

Police union official Michel Bonnet said some witnesses apparently heard the Renault Clio driver shout "Allahu Akbar" - God is great - and refer to the "children of Palestine", but the ministry would not confirm that.

Interior minister Bernard Cazeneuve will go to Lyon today.

A day earlier, French police in a Tours suburb shot and killed a man also shouting "Allahu Akbar" who had stabbed and wounded three officers in a police station.

A driver shouting "God is great" in Arabic has reportedly driven into a crowd of people in the eastern French city of Dijon leaving 11 people injured, two seriously.

Images posted on social media in the immediate aftermath appeared to show paramedics treating multiple casualties in the road.

A source told AFP news agency that the motives of the attacker remained "unclear".

The reported attack comes just a day after a man was shot dead after attacking three police officers with a knife in Joue-les-Tours.

French police have said they are investigating the potential terror links of a man who was shot dead after launching a knife attack at a police station that left two officers seriously injured.

A police spokeswoman said the man was killed after he attacked the policemen in a station in Joue-les-Tours, a suburb of the central French city of Tours.

The Paris Prosecutor's office confirmed a counter-terror investigation has opened for "attempted murder and criminal conspiracy in connection with a terrorist organisation".