Local government official Dominique Jane told Europe 1 radio the incident happened in Strasbourg's train station yesterday evening. Jane said Sunday that the soldiers pushed back the aggressor, who managed to escape, as he was trying to attack one of them. One soldier was slightly injured on a cheek.
The man's motives remained unclear. Jane said the attacker spoke in Arabic, but he doesn't know the content and translation of his words.
The soldiers were patrolling the station as part of an ongoing operation in France to support police following the 2015 attacks in Paris.