Reported By:
| Edited By: DNA Web Team |Source: DNA webdesk |Updated: Jul 26, 2016, 06:17 PM IST
Two attackers seized hostages in a church near the Normandy city of Rouen on Tuesday, killing one hostage by slitting his throat before being killed by police, a security official said.
The identities of the attackers and motive for the attack are unclear, according to the official, who was not authorized to be publicly named.
The hostages included a priest, two nuns and two worshippers according to BFM TV.
French President Francois Hollande said that the two hostage takers were terrorists who had pledged allegiance to Islamic State. "Daesh has declared war on us, we must fight this war by all means, while respecting the rule of law, what makes us a democracy," he told reporters at the scene in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray, south of Rouen, using an Arab acronym for the Islamist extremist group.
The attack is the latest in a string of deadly assaults in Europe. In France, the Normandy attack comes 12 days after a 31-year-old Tunisian killed 84 people in the French Riviera city of Nice when he ploughed his heavy goods truck into a crowd of revellers. Islamic State claimed the attack in Nice.
The attack was the third major strike on France in 18 months and was claimed by the Islamic State group.
(With agency inputs)
One person has been arrested in connection with the knife attack in a church in northern France, Reuters said citing sources.
The Vatican has condemned the "barbarous killing" of a priest in a French church, saying Pope Francis was horrified by the news.
Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi said the pope was feeling "the pain and horror of this absurd violence" and "condemned in the most radical way any form of hate".
Two Islamic State 'soldiers' carried out the Normandy church attack in France, the group's Amaq news agency has said in a statement. "They carried out the operation in response to the call to target the countries of the crusader coalition," the Amaq statement said.
French President Francois Hollande has described the hostage crisis as a "vile terrorist attack" on a religious institution. "Church attackers 'claimed to be from' Islamic State group", Hollande said. He added that France needs to fight the war against Islamic state against all means.
One hostage was killed as a result of an attack in a church in France's northern Normandy region on Tuesday, French media reported.
Two men who took several people hostage in a church in France's northern Normandy region have been 'neutralised', reports Reuters quoting police source.
However, tt was not immediately clear if the assailants had been killed or taken alive during a police operation.
