Paris shooting: Islamic State claims responsibility after policeman is killed

Islamic State has claimed responsibility for an attack in the Champs-Elysees in Paris last night that left one police officer dead and another two wounded.

In an announcement through its propaganda arm Amaq, the terror group named the gunman as Abu Yusuf al Beljiki and suggested he was a Belgian national.

Police have not yet confirmed the name, saying they first want to establish whether he was acting alone.

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CNN reports that the suspect "was the subject of a 'Fiche S' surveillance file and was on the radar of the French domestic security service DGSI".

According to French media, he had served several years in prison for shooting at police in the early 2000s.

Pierre Henry Brandet, of the French Interior Ministry, said the attacker stopped his car in front of a police van and emerged with an automatic weapon.

He opened fire on the van, killing one policeman instantly, and then "ran away, managing to shoot and wound two other", he added. "Other policemen engaged and shot and killed the attacker."

A witness said: "We heard shots like a firecracker and we saw an attack on police, we turned and fled."

French President Francois Hollande said he was convinced the attack was an act of terrorism.

The shooting came three days before the first round of voting in France's presidential election, as the candidates were making a final joint TV appearance.

Marine Le Pen of the far-right Front National, Francois Fillon of the centre-right Republicains and centrist Emmanuel Macron have cancelled events scheduled for today, the last day of the campaign.

"It would easy to assume that Marine Le Pen - so outspoken about security, migration and Islamic fundamentalism - could benefit at the ballot box," says the BBC's Katya Adler. "But anxious voters may turn, instead, to experienced conservative politician and former Prime Minister Francois Fillon."