– An 84-year-old priest was beheaded while another hostage is fighting for his life after knifemen broke into church
– The priest, two nuns and parishioners were held by assailants before both were shot dead by the police
– ISIS has already claimed responsibility for the attack which has been condemned as “barbarous” by the Vatican
Two men armed with knives stormed a Catholic church in St.-Étienne-du-Rouvray, the town in Normandy, during morning mass on Tuesday, slitting an elderly priest’s throat and taking two nuns and several parishioners hostage.
An 84-year-old priest, named as Jacques Hamel, had his throat cut in a
Normandy church this morning in an attack that also left a nun critically injured
and both jihadis dead.
The attackers reportedly filmed themselves as they forced the 84-year-old priest, named as Jacques Hamel, to kneel before they beheaded him and performed a ‘sermon in Arabic’ at the altar.
The two killers, who shouted ‘Allahu Akbar’ were shot dead by police
marksmen as they emerged from the building.
The two killers were shot dead by policemen as they came out of the church building shouting ‘Allahu Akbar’. One hostage is reported to be in a life-threatening condition, another was lightly wounded and three others were freed unharmed.
A priest has been butchered by knifemen who cut his throat after bursting
into a French church and taking hostages before being shot dead by police.
The church was reportedly on a terrorist ‘hit list’ found in the apartment of a suspected ISIS member last year.
ISIS have claimed responsibility for the attack in their statement: “The two executors of the attack on a church in Normandy, France, are soldiers of the Islamic State. They executed the operation in response to calls to target countries belonging to the crusaders’ coalition.”
French president Francois Hollande said France is ‘at war’ with ISIS while the
terror group has claimed responsibility for the killing
The Vatican representatives have described the attack as a “barbarous killing” made even worse as it was carried out in a “sacred place”.
President François Hollande met the priest’s family and the town’s mayor, Hubert Wulfran, where he announced that France is now ‘at war’ with ISIS.
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