Hunt for gunman after Strasbourg market attack kills three

STRASBOURG, France (AFP) - Hundreds of security forces were Wednesday deployed in the hunt for a lone gunman who killed at least three people and wounded a dozen others at the famed Christmas market in Strasbourg, with the French government raising the security alert level and reinforcing border controls.

Some 350 people, including police, troops and helicopters were on the heels of the attacker who had ''sowed terror'' in the city, Interior Minister Christophe Castaner said.

The killer opened fire at around 8pm (1900 GMT) on one of the city's busiest streets, sending crowds of evening shoppers fleeing for safety.

Castaner said the gunman had killed three people and wounded 12.

Soldiers patrolling the area as part of regular anti-terror operations exchanged fire with the suspect and wounded him, but could not stop him escaping, police sources said. A soldier was slightly injured by a ricochet from a shot by the gunman.

Castaner also said France had raised its security alert level to ''emergency attack'' with ''the implementation of reinforced border controls and tightened controls on all Christmas markets in France to avoid the risk of a copycat'' attack.

The gunman has been identified and was on a watchlist of suspected extremists, a statement from local security services said.

France's security forces, already on high alert after a series of terror attacks since 2015, are particularly stretched at the moment due to antigovernment protests that have swept the country.

Shortly after the shooting, lines of police vehicles and ambulances streamed into the market area, under festive lights declaring the city the ''capital of Christmas.''

President Emmanuel Macron expressed on Twitter the solidarity of the whole nation after holding a crisis meeting with cabinet officials in Paris.

Two separate security sources told AFP on condition of anonymity that the shooter was believed to be a 29-year-old from the city, whose name was given as Cherif, and who was set to be arrested on Tuesday morning.

He was being investigated over an attempted murder, one of the sources said.