Three Jews wearing kipot were attacked by 10 people in Villeurbanne, France, near Lyon, French Interior Minister Manuel Valls was quoted as saying on Sunday by the European Jewish Press.

Two of the victims were hospitalized. One victim sustained an open wound to the head, and another suffered a neck injury.

The attackers were described as being of North-African origin, and beat their Jewish victims with hammers and iron bars, an act denounced as "extremely serious" by French authorities. The attack occurred on Saturday.

Accordingly, Valls mobilized the police to search out and arrest those behind the attack.

The incident came after a March attack in Toulouse France, in which Mohamed Merah killed three Jewish schoolchildren and a rabbi.

Merah admitted anti-Semetic motivations for his attack during a 30- hour gunbattle with police who besieged his Toulouse apartment. (© 1995-2011, The Jerusalem Post 06/04/12)