Shafaq news/ French media reported that three persons were killed and others wounded in a knife attack near a church in the French city of Nice.

French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said a police operation was underway and that he would be chairing a crisis meeting. France's anti-terrorism prosecutor's department said it was investigating the attack.

The French police appealed to people to avoid the area in the center of the town of Notre-Dame-Ville in the city of Nice.

For his part, the mayor of Nice, Christian Estrozzi said everything pointed to a "terrorist attack at the heart of the Notre-Dame basilica".

Estrozzi confirmed that the man said "God is great (Allah Akbar)" at the time of the attack, and he was arrested.

In turn, the French far-right politician Marine Le Pen told reporters at Parliament in Paris that a "beheading" was happened during the attack.