Paris Soldier Shoots Machete-Wielding Attacker Outside Louvre

A man wielding a machete and shouting "Allahu Akbar" has been shot five times after attacking a soldier outside the Louvre in Paris, police have said.

Officers said that the attacker was seriously injured in the incident, which forced the evacuation of the museum and surrounding area.

The police chief of Paris added that the man was carrying two backpacks, but neither contained explosives.

The soldier was slightly injured during the assault.

A tweet from France's Interior Ministry said: "Grave public security event under way in Paris in the Louvre quarter, priority (given) to the intervention of security forces and emergency personnel."

The Rue de Rivoli running alongside the museum was closed to traffic while trains were being pushed through the Palais Royal-Musee du Louvre metro station without stopping.

Earlier reports had said the attacker was wielding a knife when he was shot and injured.

France was put under a state of emergency following terror attacks that claimed hundreds of lives in Paris and Nice.

The incident comes months before France elects a new president with incumbent Francois Hollande deciding not to seek a second term after his opinion poll ratings dropped during the state of emergency.

The museum in the centre of Paris is one of the French capital's biggest tourist attractions.

Soldiers on patrol are part of security measures that have been beefed up in the wake of terror attacks in France in 2015 and 2016.

Police union official Yves Lefebvre said the man attacked soldiers when they told him he could not enter an underground shopping mall beneath the Louvre with his bags.

Mr Lefebvre says police found two machetes on the man.

Police have sealed off entrances around where the attack took place and closed the area to vehicles, snarling traffic in a busy part of central Paris.

The situation is mainly calm, with confused tourists being gently shooed away by officers.

The French interior ministry says anti-terrorism prosecutors are investigating the attack but that there are no details about the identity of the attacker.

Interior Ministry spokesman Pierre-Henry Brandet says a second person was also arrested but it is unclear whether that person was linked to the attack.

Cover image a file photo of a French police car, courtesy: David Monniaux

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