French soldier shoots man as he attempts ramming attack near mosque

A driver was shot and wounded on Friday as he drove a car at four soldiers guarding a mosque in southeastern France.

Police said the driver deliberately sped his vehicle at the troops, injuring one of them, as they were stationed in a car park outside a large mosque in a suburb of Valence.

The driver bore down on the team a first time, prompting them to shout a warning, and when he returned for a second pass, they opened fire, they said.

The impact of the car, a Peugeot 307, left the soldier with injuries to his knee and shin, police said.

The driver was shot in the arm and the leg and was taken to hospital, local officials said.

The defence and interior ministries in Paris said in a joint statement the driver's injuries were "serious but currently not life-threatening."

A stray bullet also hit a passerby, a worshipper at the mosque, in the calf. 

Police said the driver's motive remained unclear.

Local mayor Nicolas Daragon praised the soldiers for what he said was "remarkable" self-control, and Prime Minister Manuel Valls, Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve and Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian were swift to add their backing.

"My support for the soldiers attacked in Valence. Fully appreciate our forces, mobilised for the security of France," Valls said in a tweet.

Le Drian and Cazeneuve's statement said the soldiers "responded with defensive fire" against the assailant.

The incident happened in mid-afternoon when there was a large crowd outside, the rector of the mosque, Abadallah Dliouah, said. 

The soldier is among 10,000 security personnel protecting sensitive sites around the nation after the deadly jihadist assaults in Paris in 2015.