Story highlights French criminals mess up by targeting a McDonald's where elite troops are eating

They belong to special operations unit specializing in counter-terror and hostage situations

(CNN) Two hapless criminals picked the wrong place when they held up a McDonald's in France.

Eleven armed members of an elite paramilitary force happened to be eating inside.

The pair allegedly burst into the Ecole-Valentin branch of the fast-food restaurant in the eastern French city of Besancon on Sunday. They fired a shotgun at the ceiling, yelling at the customers inside to get on the floor, the city's prosecutor Edwige Roux-Morizot told CNN.

One of the robbers then stole about 2000 euros ($2,269) from the registers before the men ran away, she said.

Unfortunately for them, among the 40-odd customers grabbing burgers at the time were 11 members of the GIGN (National Gendarmerie Intervention Group), an elite special operations unit of the national gendarme which specializes in counter-terror and hostage situations.

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