Man drives car at soldiers in France

A soldier and an elderly Muslim man have been injured after a man drove his car at troops guarding a mosque in southern France.

A soldier and an elderly Muslim man were slightly injured when a man tried to run his car into troops protecting a mosque in Valence in southern France, mayor Nicolas Daragon says.

The driver was also injured when the soldiers shot at him, Daragon told the iTELE news channel after Friday's attack.

The man was taken to hospital, and the mayor said his identity, motives and psychiatric state were not yet known.

The 72-year-old worshipper was hit in the calf by a stray bullet shot by the soldiers, he said.

"The four soldiers were in front of the mosque, a moderate, quiet mosque, in between two prayers, at a time when many worshippers arrived," Daragon said. "A car drove at them."

The driver tried twice to hit the soldiers and they shot at him on his second attempt, he said.

France has been on high alert since Islamic State militants killed 130 people in shootings and suicide bombings in Paris on November 13.