A man who died when he rammed his car into a police van in Paris this week told people he joined a gun sports club to prepare as a jihadi fighter, France's top public prosecutor said on Thursday.

Prosecutor Francois Molins did not explain how the assailant he named as Adam D. managed for years to obtain gun permits and renew them, even after his name was put on a secret service list of potentially radicalized individuals.

It is a question that remains unanswered as investigators probe the latest of a string of attacks by Islamist assailants who have killed more than 230 people in France since early 2015.

Read more: Reuters