A car packed with gas cylinders was found near Notre Dame cathedral in Paris

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The officer was targeted by a knife-woman wielding as they moved in to arrest her and responded by using their firearm, according to reports in French media.

The woman was inured and was rushed to hospital. The condition of the police officer is unknown.

Earlier police arrested two couples in connection with the discovery of the vehicle, which was found in the heart of the French capital.

Officials have established that the vehicle contained three jerry cans of diesel fuel, a judicial source said.

The discovery last Saturday night of the Peugeot 607 loaded with seven gas cylinders, six of them full, triggered an inquiry by counter-terrorism experts in a country where more than 200 people have died in attacks over the past year and a half.

Police sources said on Tuesday that no detonator device was found in the car, but the presence of diesel-filled cannisters added to concerns that there had been a plan to explode the vehicle.