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Jewish brothers wearing kippahs assaulted in Paris suburb

A police investigation has been opened into the attack on the two brothers, aged 29 and 17, who said they were assaulted as they drove through Bondy, east of Paris, by two men in a van who were soon joined by others, one wielding a metal saw, and which left them both hospitalised.

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French police are investigating an assault on two Jewish brothers in a Paris suburb, in which the attackers allegedly shouted anti-Semitic abuse, reports BBC News.

The eldest, 29, and his brother, 17, say one of the attackers was armed with a hacksaw and one of the brothers' hands was cut in the struggle.

They say they were harassed while driving through the suburb of Bondy on Tuesday evening, wearing kippas.

Bondy is near Aulnay-sous-Bois, an area hit by anti-police rioting this month.

No suspects have been detained yet in connection with Tuesday's assault.

Bondy is part of Seine-Saint-Denis district, north-east of Paris, where violence erupted earlier this month because of the alleged rape of a young black man by police.

The man, called Théo, left hospital this week after emergency treatment. Violence also rocked some other suburbs.

Seine-Saint-Denis has a high density of immigrants, many of them Muslims. The district suffers from high unemployment and urban deprivation.

A French group combating anti-Semitism, called BNVCA, said the two Jews had been racially abused first by two assailants who had followed them in a van. Then by more assailants who joined in the attack outside a shisha bar.

Read more of this report from BBC News.