Twelve people have been injured after a grenade was thrown into a busy bar in the French city of Grenoble, local authorities have said.

The incident happened at the Aksehir bar shortly after 20:00 local time (19:00 GMT) on Wednesday evening, leaving two people in critical condition.

The motive for the attack is not clear but investigators say it “may be linked to a settling of scores”.

Prosecutor Francois Touret-de-Courcey said eyewitness accounts suggest the suspect, who is as yet unidentified, may also have been carrying a Kalashnikov assault rifle.

Speaking to reporters at the scene, he said: “There’s nothing to make us think it’s linked to terrorism,” describing the incident as an “act of extreme violence”.

He added that investigators were looking at possible connections to drug trafficking.

Authorities said many people were at the venue, located in the city’s Olympic Village neighbourhood, when the suspect briefly entered.

Some 80 firefighters and police officers were deployed to the scene with the area remaining cordoned off on Thursday morning, French paper Le Figaro reports.

Deputy Mayor Chloe Pantel told the AFP news agency that the venue was “a spot where locals and people from outside the neighbourhood gather, especially to watch football matches”.

Police presence in the area will remain for a while, she added.

Posting on X, Mayor Eric Piolle condemned what he described as a “criminal act of extraordinary violence,” before thanking rescue and security forces “for their rapid intervention”. (BBC)