Thursday 28 July 2016

French church attack: 'Priest killer' was being monitored

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One of the men suspected of killing a priest at a church in northern France was being monitored by police and was wearing a surveillance tag at the time of the attack, officials say.

Prosecutor Francois Molins said Adel Kermiche, 19, was arrested twice last year trying to reach Syria.

Kermiche and a fellow attacker stormed the church in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray, a suburb of Rouen, during morning Mass.
They slit the throat of the elderly priest before being killed by police.

One of four people taken hostage - said to be an elderly parishioner - suffered severe knife wounds, Mr Molins said.

Mr Molins said the two attackers had been carrying a "fake explosive device covered in aluminium foil" along with hand-held weapons when they entered the Catholic church.

As they targeted Father Jacques Hamel, in his 80s, some of the congregation were able to escape and alert the police, who sent in a team specialised in dealing with hostage situations.
Three of the hostages were used as human shields to block the police from entering the church, Mr Molins said.

When they were eventually let go, the two attackers followed them out of the church shouting "Allahu Akbar" before being killed, Mr Molins said.
Earlier, the so-called Islamic State (IS) claimed its "soldiers" carried out the attack.

A nun, who identified herself as Sister Danielle, had been in the church at the time and described what happened.

"They forced [Fr Hamel] to his knees. He wanted to defend himself, and that's when the tragedy happened," she told French media.

"They recorded themselves. They did a sort of sermon around the altar, in Arabic. It's a horror".

Residents of the town have reacted with shock and sadness to Fr Hamel's killing. They spoke of a well-loved priest who had been dedicated to his parish.

Local Imam Mohammed Karabila said he was "stunned by the death of my friend. He was someone who gave his life to others".

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