Qatar condemns IS attack on French church

Hollande told the Pope on Tuesday that “when a priest is attacked, it is all of France that has been hurt”, according to a statement from the president’s office. Anti-terrorism prosecutors have been assigned to the investigation. He did not flag new measures to address the threat, but emphasised the existing ones would be applied to their fullest. Dominique Lebrun, the Archbishop of Rouen, named the priest as 84-year-old Father Jacques Hamel and called for “prayer and brotherhood” in the face of terror. “Our country must avoid overreaction, polemics, confusion and suspicion”. We should be united, and unity is our strength.

The two attackers claim to be associated with the Islamic State and one attacker has been monitored by police for over a year, according to the Associated Press.

They shouted “Allah akbar” as they entered the church, “corroborated sources” told Le Point.

As Europe becomes painfully inured to a summer of repeated bloodshed, the extremists are looking for greater ways to shock, Rafiq said.

“They took to the floor to speak in Arabic…”

“We must lead this war with all our means”, he said, adding that he was calling a meeting on Wednesday of representatives of all religions.

Police shot the attackers dead as they emerged from the church with their hostages.

She said the men were speaking Arabic and shouting and had “recorded” the attack.

It appeared the priest’s throat was slit, a source told Reuters. She did not see his murder. “The driver called the police and they arrived very quickly”. European counter-terrorism officials believe the group is trying to project an image of strength and unleash vengeance, as it loses ground in Syria, Iraq and Libya.

Praising the work of emergency services who killed the men and freed the rest of the five hostages, including one who is in a serious condition, Mr Hollande said he had spoken to the three uninjured victims in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray.

The alarm was raised after one of the nuns escaped. The other had a timepiece wrapped in aluminium foil in a backpack with a fake explosive.

A witness also said he had threatened to attack a church. None were found. They found the body of the priest, who died of wounds to his chest and throat.

One of the assailants has been identified as 19-year-old Adel Kermiche, who lived in the town. He was arrested in May 2015 and spent nearly a year in prison, before being released on March 2.

Two months later he again tried to join IS and this time got as far as Turkey. The Paris prosecutor appealed against this decision to release him but it was confirmed by an appeal court.

The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for the killing.

On social media, the “je suis pretre” (‘I am priest’) hashtag began spreading.

He was sent by Belgian Abdelhamid Abaaoud, who directed a cell which carried out the 13 November attacks in Paris during which 130 people were killed and the 22 March attacks in Brussels that killed 32 people.

President Francois Hollande said the attack was a “cowardly assassination” by two terrorists. The hostage-takers came out of the church and were shot dead in the forecourt.

“The terrorists want to divide us, to disunite us, to make us oppose one another, to hurt us”. President Hollande and interior minister Bernard Cazeneuve visited the scene to congratulate the security forces and comfort the community. He said the pope was feeling “the pain and horror of this absurd violence” and “condemned in the most radical way any form of hate”.

Manuel Valls, French Prime Minister said on Twitter that he was “horrified at the barbaric attack”.