Media reports say eight people have been injured in a shooting outside a mosque in southern France, officials have confirmed.

Worshippers leaving the Arrahma mosque in Avignon were approached by two hooded suspects at about 22:30 local time (21:30 GMT) on Sunday, the BBC reported.

The suspects, carrying a handgun and a shotgun, arrived in a Renault Clio before opening fire on the crowd.

Four people were wounded outside the mosque and a family of four - including a seven-year-old girl - also suffered injuries from shrapnel while in their apartment, located some 50 meters.  

According to Reuters, La Provence regional newspaper, which first reported the incident, cited a judicial source as saying police are “not at all treating it as terrorist related” and suspected instead a dispute between youths.

The incident comes after a man was arrested on Thursday after trying to drive a car into a crowd in front of a mosque in the Paris suburb of Creteil in an incident in which no one was injured.