A French soldier patrolling a business neighbourhood west of Paris has been stabbed in the neck by a man who fled the scene.

The 23-year-old was patrolling in uniform with two other soldiers as part of France's anti-terrorism surveillance plan in La Defense when he was approached from behind around 6pm on Saturday (local time) and attacked with a knife or a box-cutter.While anti-terrorist investigators were probing the incident President Francois Hollande said "at this stage" there was no apparent link between the attack in Paris and a murder of a soldier in London this week."We still don't know the exact circumstances of the attack or the identity of the attacker, but we are exploring all options," he said.Mr Hollande said police were hunting for the perpetrator but did not provide any details about his identity or any possible motivation for the attack.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.