A knife-wielding man on Tuesday attacked three French soldiers on an anti-terror patrol in front of a Jewish community center in the southern city of Nice, police officials said.

Sarah Baron, a police union official in the city of Nice, said the suspect had hidden the knife in his bag and was detained shortly after the attack.

Nice Mayor Christian Estrosi told BFM television that a possible accomplice had also been apprehended and that the knife-wielding assailant was carrying an identity card with the name Moussa Coulibaly.

The surname, which is relatively common for families of Malian descent, is the same as that of the militant Islamist, Amédy Coulibaly, who last month seized and killed several hostages in a kosher supermarket in Paris and gunned down a policewoman.

Another police official said the attacker pulled a knife at least 20 centimetres-long out of a bag and set upon one of the soldiers, injuring him in the chin. He then swiped at two other soldiers – one in the face and the other in the forearm – before being apprehended by riot police stationed near the building, which houses the city’s Jewish community centre.

A manager at the center, who did not want to be identified because she was afraid, said the attack occurred around lunch and that no one was inside the office at the time.

The attacker, aged about 30, had a record of theft and violence, a police official said on condition of anonymity because the investigation was ongoing. His motive was not yet clear, the official added.

France has been on high alert since the attacks in the Paris region by three Islamic extremists that left 20 people dead, including the gunmen. More than 10,000 soldiers have been deployed around the country to protect sensitive locations, including major shopping areas, synagogues, mosques and transit hubs.

(Source: France 24)