Attack on Kurdish cultural center in Paris: Three dead, several injured

An armed assailant killed three people and injured at least three others on Friday near a cultural center in Paris named after late Kurdish singer Ahmet Kaya.

One witness told French news agency AFP that seven or eight shots were fired. A second witness, speaking to BFM TV, said the suspected gunman was a white man who opened fire in silence.

The municipal administrator of the 10th arrondissement where the attack took place said that the cultural center was targeted.

"The Kurdish community center and a restaurant and hairdresser next to it were targeted," Alexandra Cordebard said.

"It was Kurds who were targeted," Juan-Golan Eliberg, an artist who works at the Kurdish centre told Reuters.

A 69-year-old man has been arrested and taken into custody, and an investigation into murder, manslaughter and aggravated violence has been launched, Paris prosecutor's office said.

French media said the man is a French citizen, a retired train conductor residing in the 10th arrondissement.

The police did not indicate the motives of the suspect.