Three soldiers are stabbed while on anti-terror patrol in france

Three soldiers on an anti-terror patrol outside a Jewish community centre in Nice on the French Riviera have been attacked by a man with a knife. 

The attacker is believed to be a man named Moussa Coulibaly, the same surname as the gunman who murdered a policewoman and four hostages in a Kosher deli in Paris last month.

The knifeman, said to be in his 30s, pulled an eight-inch blade out of a bag and attacked the soldiers, injuring two in the face and the third in the arm.

The attacker, who was carrying an ID card with the name Moussa Coulibaly, was detained after the attack, near the Galeries Lafayette department store, Nice Mayor Christian Estrosi said.

The surname, which is relatively common for families of Malian descent, is the same as that of the Amedy Coulibaly, who took hostages in a kosher supermarket in Paris and gunned down a policewoman last month.

The attacker pulled a knife out of a bag and set upon one of the soldiers, injuring him in the chin, police said, not confirming his identity.

The man then swiped two other soldiers - one in the cheek, the other in the forearm - before being apprehended by riot police stationed near the building.

He has a record of theft and violence, but the motive for the attack is not yet clear, an anonymous police official said.

The attack took place outside a Jewish community centre in Nice, home to an Israeli association and a Jewish radio station. 

A manager at the center, who did not want to be identified because she was afraid, confirmed soldiers posted in front of the building were attacked. She said it happened around lunchtime and no one was inside the office. 

Mayor Estrosi told BFM television that a possible accomplice had been detained. 

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.

Earlier Tuesday, French authorities arrested seven men and a woman suspected of involvement in a network sending fighters to join ISIS in Syria.

Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said those arrested in the Paris and Lyon areas are not suspected of links to the attacks against a kosher grocery and newspaper Charlie Hebdo in January. 

Three of those arrested Tuesday had traveled to Syria and returned in December 2014, a French official said, though it was unclear whether they joined the Islamic State group or another group.

The network began sending French fighters to Syria in May 2013, and at least one of them was killed there, the official said. Other members of the network are still in Syria.

The group did not appear to be involved in any particular plot, or linked to any other networks already broken up in France in recent months, said the official, who was not authorized to be publicly identified discussing security matters.

France has seen hundreds of homegrown radicals join extremists abroad, most linked to ISIS in Syria and Iraq.

Cazeneuve said recent atrocities by the Islamic State group - including the killing of a Japanese hostage - 'only strengthen the government's determination to fight terrorism every day and every hour.'

French authorities have come under criticism for being overzealous in cracking down on potential threats since the attacks, arresting dozens for comments seen as defending terrorism and notably questioning an eight-year-old boy.

Culled