The French government says that the killing of a French police officer on Tuesday evening was the work of the Basque separatist organisation ETA.

It would the first time that ETA has killed a French police officer. The French authorities have launched a manhunt for a group of about six suspects who fled after the shooting near Paris. They took off in six vehicles they had stolen from a nearby garage. They opened fire when they ran into a police patrol. One police officer was shot dead and one of the gunmen was arrested.

The French and Spanish authorities have joined forces in the fight against ETA, which often uses France as a base of operations. In the past few weeks hundreds of suspected ETA members have been arrested in France, including Ibon Gogeaskoetxea, one of the organisation's most senior leaders.