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| French police at the scene of the attack on a church in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray, northern France, on July 26 (AFP/Getty Images |
A priest has been killed at a Catholic church in Normandy northern France during a suspected Islamist terror attack by men armed with knives.
The French interior ministry said the murdered man was among 5 people, including nuns and worshippers taken hostage on Tuesday morning, while a second victim was in a life-threatening condition. Three others were freed unharmed.
Father Jacques Hamel, 84, had his throat slit, investigative sources said.
The French president, François Hollande, who travelled immediately to Saint-Étienne-du-Rouvray, near Rouen, said the attack was carried by “two terrorists who claimed to be from Isis”.
Hollande arrived with the French interior minister, Bernard Cazeneuve, but the two after an hour, were still unable to enter the church, which was being checked for explosives.
Pierre Henry Brandet, an interior ministry spokesman, said the church had been surrounded by the BRI, France’s “anti-gang brigade”, which specialises in kidnappings, and that “the two attackers came out and were killed by police”.
Paris prosecutor’s office said the case had been handed to anti-terrorism judges for investigation.
Vatican spokesman Federico Lombard said the “The pope shares the pain and horror of this absurd violence,” adding that the attack created “immense pain and worry”.
A local woman who worshipped at the church described Hamel as “a man who did his job to the end. He was elderly but was always available for whoever. He was a good priest.”
She added: “He has been here for a long time and many parishioners knew him well. He lived in the rectory at Saint-Étienne-du-Rouvray.”
Sources: Guardian, The Independent
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