Gunfire in Marseille ahead of French PM's visit

Paris, Feb 9: Police were carrying out an operation in The French city of Marseille Monday after reports of gunfire.

The firing took place even as Prime Minister Manuel Valls is due to visit the city, The Local news portal's French edition reported.

A police operation was under way in an estate in Marseille where residents said "Kalashnikov shots" were fired "in the air", sources close to the case said, adding there were no casualties.

Some unconfirmed reports have claimed shots were fired at Marseille's police chief Pierre-Marie Bourniquel when he arrived at the scene to oversee the police operation.

He was forced to take cover in his car, with bullets flying nearby, French newspaper Le Figaro said.

The last major terror incident in France was the attack on the headquarters of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in capital Paris.

The attack took place Jan 7 when two Islamist terrorists forced their way into the offices and killed 11 people, including the editor-in-chief.

IANS