Man tried to 'ram car into people outside Paris mosque'

A man has been arrested after he tried to drive a car into a crowd in front of a mosque in the Paris suburb of Creteil, police said.

The man did not succeed in reaching the crowd because of barriers in front of the mosque, police said in a statement before adding that no one was was injured in Thursday's incident which took place around 6:30pm local time.

An investigation, to be carried out by a regular police department rather than an anti-terrorism unit, would determine if the man could be held accountable for his actions, the statement said.

Police said the motive behind the actions were unclear but Le Parisien newspaper said the man wanted to avenge ISIL-linked attacks in France.