ISIL claims two of its ‘soldiers’ killed priest in France
Islamic State claims credit for brazen attack
France became the target PARIS of a new terrorist attack Tuesday when two men armed with knives killed an elderly priest and injured three others after seizing hostages at a Catholic church in Normandy. The Islamic State claimed responsibility.
Both attackers were shot dead by French police as they attempted to leave the church. Three people were rescued unharmed, according to the French government. Police said the two attackers recorded their actions inside the church, the French newspaper Le Figaro reported.
The incident took place around 9:30 during morning Mass at a parish church in Saint-Étienne-du-Rouvray, a community of 29,000 people near the city of Rouen, about 75 miles northwest of Paris.
The Amaq news agency, linked to the Islamic State, said “two IS soldiers” carried out the hostagetaking. “The two executors of the attack on a church in Normandy, France, were soldiers of the Islamic State,” the news agency quoted the Islamic State. “They executed the operation in response to calls to target countries belonging to the crusader coalition.”
The slain priest was Jacques Hamel, 85, Archbishop Dominique Lebrun of Rouen said in a statement.
“We are facing a group that has declared war on us,” French President François Hollande said after rushing to Saint-Étienne-du-Rouvray. “We have to fight this war with every means.”
The latest attack came 12 days after 84 people were killed on Bastille Day in Nice by a lone terrorist, possibly inspired by the Islamic State, who drove a large truck through the crowd. France has been under a state of emergency since November’s attacks in Paris, which killed 130 people.
France’s anti-terrorism prosecutor, Francois Molins, identified one attacker as Adel Kermiche, 19, who previously evaded officials twice using relatives’ ID cards in attempts to reach Syria.