Paris petrol bomb attack prompts attempted murder probe

French prosecutors opened an attempted murder investigation after a petrol bomb was thrown at security forces during a weekend protest in Paris.

The prosecutor's office said Sunday that explosive devices were thrown at around fifteen gendarmes and police officers during Saturday's unrest. The Paris police prefecture said several hundred rioters attacked security forces with projectiles, including a Molotov cocktail.

Images, including AFP photos and video, showed a homemade incendiary device exploding at the feet of a security officer in eastern Paris. Prosecutors said an assessment of the injured was still under way and that reported injuries included second-degree burns.

No suspects had been arrested at this stage in connection with the incident, the prosecutor's office said, adding that investigators were working to identify those responsible.

Clashes broke out in Paris and some other cities after hundreds of thousands of people staged a third weekend of protests against soaring living costs. Interior Minister Laurent Nunez on Saturday described the level of violence from some rioters as "extraordinary".