French police were hunting a man who had appeared to drive his car at a group of soldiers jogging outside their base in the foothills of the Alps on Thursday, authorities said.

It was not clear if the driver had sought to run down the 10-strong group from the 93rd Mountain Artillery regiment or simply scare them, a spokesman for the local prefecture said.

The incident caused alarm in a country on edge after an Islamic State loyalist went on a rampage in southern France last Friday, killing four people in the first militant attack since President Emmanuel Macron lifted a state of emergency.

The mayor said school children were being kept indoors while the driver remained at large, local media reported.

A source close to the investigation said the driver’s motivations were unclear, but that the incident was being taken seriously.

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