Calgary Herald

ATTACKERS SLIT PRIEST’S THROAT.

- ELAINE GANLEY ALEX TURNBULL AND The Associated Press, with files from The Washington Post

SAINT-ETIENNE-DU-ROUVRAY, FRANCE • Two attackers slit the throat of an 85-year-old priest celebratin­g mass in a French church, killing him and gravely injuring one of the few worshipper­s present before being shot to death by police. A nun who escaped said she saw the attackers take a video of themselves and “give a sermon in Arabic” around the altar.

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant claimed responsibi­lity for the attack, the first inside a church in the West.

Police rescued three people — including a second nun — in the northweste­rn town of Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray.

One of the attackers has been identified as Adel Kermiche, a local youth whose parents flagged his radical behaviour to authoritie­s.

Family friend Jonathan Sacarabany said Kermiche grew up in a housing project in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray. He said Kermiche had a sister who is a doctor in the nearby city of Rouen, and a brother. Their mother is a professor. The family alerted authoritie­s to his radicalism to try to stop him from going to Syria, Sacarabany said.

According to BFM television, Kermiche was turned back at the Turkish border and was then jailed by French authoritie­s.

An official said the man was under police supervisio­n and wore an electronic bracelet to monitor his movements.

A statement published by the ISIL-affiliated Amaq news agency said the attack was carried out by “two soldiers of the Islamic State” who acted in response to calls to target nations in the U.S.-led coalition fighting the extremists in Iraq and Syria.

The statement echoed claims in other recent attacks in France and neighbouri­ng Germany.

 ?? PAROISSE SAINT-ETIENNE-DU-ROUVRAY / AFP / GETTY IMAGES ?? Priest Jacques Hamel died on Tuesday after his throat was slit by two attackers who stormed his church, near Rouen, France, during a morning mass, taking five people inside hostage, including the 85-year-old priest, officials said.
PAROISSE SAINT-ETIENNE-DU-ROUVRAY / AFP / GETTY IMAGES Priest Jacques Hamel died on Tuesday after his throat was slit by two attackers who stormed his church, near Rouen, France, during a morning mass, taking five people inside hostage, including the 85-year-old priest, officials said.

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