A French soldier was reportedly stabbed Saturday on the western outskirts of Paris by a man who quickly fled from police, French President Francois Hollande said, according to Reuters.

The soldier was patrolling in uniform with two other men as part of France's Vigipirate anti-terrorist surveillance plan when he was approached from behind around 6 p.m. and stabbed in the neck with a knife or a box-cutter.

The increased surveillance was part of a heightened security plan initiated in certain areas following France's intervention in Mali earlier this year, said President Hollande.

Hollande, in the Ethiopian city of Addis Ababa, said the attacker was still on the run and police were exploring all leads.

"We still don't know the exact circumstances of the attack or the identity of the attacker, but we are exploring all options," Hollande told journalists.

Andre Peyvel, police chief for the Hauts-de-Seine area, said the soldier, 23, lost a considerable amount of blood but would survive. He was being treated for non-life-threatening wounds at a nearby military hospital.

Peyvel said the attacker fled into a crowded shopping area in the La Defense business neighborhood before the two other soldiers, who were walking in front of him, were able to react.

French daily Le Parisien cited a police source as saying the suspected attacker was a bearded man of North African origin about 30 years old, and was wearing an Arab-style garment under his jacket. Peyvel declined to confirm or deny that description and said further details about the attacker's identity would be forthcoming.

France is on high alert for attacks by Islamist militants following its military intervention in Mali in January, which prompted threats against French interests from AQIM, the North African wing of al Qaeda.

The attack came days after a British soldier was killed on a London street by two men who said they were acting out of revenge for violence against Muslims.

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