French police officer shot dead in Avignon during drug attack

A French police officer has been shot dead during an anti-narcotics operation in the city of Avignon, Prime Minister Jean Castex said.

Home Secretary Gerald Darmanin said several agents had been shot at and one killed during the raid.

“The police officer has passed away. We are thinking about the family and his colleagues during this terrible drama,” Darmanin said on his Twitter account, adding that he was due to go to Avignon on Wednesday evening.

The shooter is on the run in Avignon, a police source said. BFM television reported that the shooter had fled the scene on a mobility scooter.

Union police officer Vincent Dath told Reuters the officer was shot during a raid on a well-known drug trade.

“It looks like this is a drug case, not a terrorist attack,” Dath said.

France has faced a series of deadly attacks on police officers by Islamic militants in recent years.

Late last month, a Tunisian-born man shouting “Allahu Akbar” (God is the greatest) stabbed a deadly stab from a police clerk as she walked into a police station in a Paris commuter town.

(AFP)