PARIS - A French soldier on Friday opened fire on and wounded a man armed with a knife after he tried to enter the Louvre musuem in central Paris carrying a suitcase, police sources said.

One source said the man had been trying to get into the museum's underground shop and had attacked another soldier before being shot and seriously wounded.

Police said the area had been evacuated.

The interior ministry said on Twitter the incident was "serious".

A spokewoman for Louvre said the museum was "closed for the moment" but would not confirm reports it had been evacuated.

A Reuters witness at the scene said police had cordoned off access to the museum.

France has been hit by a series of militant Islamist attacks over the past two years.