BREAKING: French Soldier in uniform Stabbed in the Throat near Paris, North African Man Sought
A police union spokesman said surveillance footage of the attacker showed him as tall and bearded, aged about 35, possibly of North African origin and wearing a white Arab-style tunic.
(BBC) French authorities are investigating whether the stabbing of a soldier in a Paris suburb was a copycat attack in the wake of the murder of Dummer Lee Rigby, killed in London this week.
The soldier was on patrol in the area of La Defense when he was stabbed in the neck by an unknown man who escaped.
His injuries are not thought to be life-threatening.
French President Francois Hollande said all possibilities were being explored but warned against hasty conclusions.
The 23-year-old was patrolling in uniform with two colleagues in the suburban railway station at La Defense late on Saturday afternoon.
He was attacked from behind by a man wielding a knife or a box-cutter. The assailant, whose identity is unknown, ran away and is being sought by police.
No motive has been established for the attack.
Mr Hollande said every hypothesis must be investigated, but no link had yet been established to the murder of Drummer Lee Rigby in the Woolwich area of London on Wednesday.
"I don't think at this stage that there can be a link, but we're examining all the elements and we're asking our soldiers to increase their level of vigilance," he said, while on an official visit to Ethiopia.
Shortly after the attack on Drummer Rigby, a man was filmed nearby saying he had carried out the attack because British soldiers killed Muslims every day.
Two men have been arrested and remain in hospital after they were shot by police.
Both men were known to the security services, sources told the BBC.
3 years ago