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A French soldier on patrol in Paris has been stabbed in the throat by a man believed to be of North-African origin.

The 23-year-old soldier was injured during the attack but his life is not in danger, the Interior Ministry said.

French daily Le Parisien cited police sources as saying the suspected attacker was a bearded man, about 30-years-old and was wearing an Arab-style garment under his jacket.

He fled the scene and is being sought by police.

The soldier was with two colleagues patrolling the business area of La Defense as part of France's Vigipirate anti-terrorist surveillance plan when he was reportedly attacked from behind. He was in uniform and was armed.

Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said the soldier had been targeted because he was in the army.

"They tried to kill the soldier because he was a soldier," he told reporters, adding that France would continue its "implacable" fight against terrorism.

The stabbing comes three days after British soldier Drummer Lee Rigby was hacked to death on a London street in broad daylight in a suspected terrorist attack that has raised fears of potential copycat strikes.

There was no immediate confirmation of any link to the Paris attack but French President Francois Hollande said authorities are investigating all possibilities.

He said: "There could be a link, but we will look at all the elements."

French security forces have been on heightened alert since their country launched a military intervention in the African nation of Mali in January to regain territory seized by Islamic radicals.

Last year, three French paratroopers were killed by a man police described as a French-born Islamic extremist who then went on to strike a Jewish school in the south of France, killing four more people.


Sky