PARIS — The father of one of the three Jewish teenagers beaten in Paris said at least 10 assailants of mixed ethnic origin were involved.

Thierry Nabet, whose 17-year-old son, Dan, was one of the Bnei Akiva youth counsellors beaten recently, also confirmed that brass knuckles were used in the attack.

No updates have been made public on the police search for suspects, though the victims told investigators that they recognized their attackers from their own neighbourhood. The attack drew national attention because it occurred on the same Paris street where another Jewish teen was assaulted in June.

Nabet’s father said the incident involving his son began with a stone thrown at the three boys, aged 17 and 18, as they headed to one of their homes between Sabbath prayer services.

Top French officials branded the Sept. 6 attack as anti-Semitic.

The victims, who were wearing kippot, were temporarily hospitalized for minor injuries.

Badly bruised and with a few fractures, the three boys are shocked, and worried about their safety, said the president of the French Jewish Student Union UEJF, Raphael Haddad, who spoke to the victims.

“Their attackers were also from the neighbourhood,” said Haddad in a telephone interview with JTA, “so they are worried about what will happen if they see them again after today.”

The three boys reported the incident to Paris police after going to the hospital. The attack took place in the low-income, heavily Jewish and Muslim northeastern Paris neighbourhood, where 17-year-old Rudy Haddad was beaten on June 21 by a group of young people. Haddad ended up in a coma after the beating. City investigators say the attack involved an anti-Semitic impulse.

Two of Haddad’s assailants were charged with “attempted murder and group violence aggravated by their anti-Semitic character.”

In a news release, Interior Minister Michèle Alliot-Marie said she condemned the “anti-Semitic violent acts” that took place on Sept. 6.

Richard Prasquier, the president of the Jewish umbrella organization CRIF, told the Jewish Radio RCJ that he was “certain” the three boys were targeted because they were identified as Jews.

“There isn’t a shadow of a doubt,” concerning the “anti-Semitic character” of the crime, said Prasquier. “Let it be made clear – the boys who were walking by had a kippah.”

A Paris police spokesperson said an investigation has been launched to determine whether the incident was anti-Semitic, adding that the attackers reportedly did not speak to their victims.

The victims’ names were not made public by the French press, but the Jerusalem Post identified them as Bnei Akiva youth group counsellors Kevin Bitan and David Buaziz, both 18, and Dan Nebet, 17.

The Bureau of Vigilance Against Anti-Semitism confirmed their ages and first names.