Grenade launched into packed bar by 'man brandishing a Kalashnikov rifle'

At least a dozen people were wounded tonight after a grenade was thrown into a packed bar by a man brandishing a Kalashnikov rifle in the French Alpine city of Grenoble.

Two of the victims were said to be ‘critical,' one with chest injuries, following the explosion at around 8pm on Wednesday.

All the windows of Aksehir, a bar in the Claude Kogan square in the Olympic Village district of Grenoble, were blown out, in what was undoubtedly a planned attack.

Speaking from the scene, local council official Chloé Pantel said: "It was a criminal act, most likely a grenade."

François Touret de Coucy, the deputy prosecutor of Grenoble, confirmed the theory, saying that it was "a grenade thrown by someone that caused the explosion." He also confrimed that a man was seen brandishing a Kalashnikov rifle that was not fired.

Touret de Coucy said no theory for the attack had yet been ruled out, although terrorism was not being prioritised. He did not identify any of the victims.

The bar – which is named after a town in the Konya Province of Turkey – was surrounded by police and firefighters by the early hours of Thursday morning, when no arrests had yet been made.

Nearby streets were being sealed off, and locals advised to stay indoors.

All the injured were taken to the Grenoble Alpes University Hospital.

Eric Piolle, the Mayor of Grenoble, condemned ‘with the greatest firmness a criminal act of unprecedented violence’, and thanked ‘the emergency and security forces for their rapid intervention.’