One hostage has been killed in a standoff in a church in the town of Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray, in France’s Normandy region Tuesday, CNN affiliate BFMTV reports. “There are dogs, explosive detectors and bomb disposal services and as long as there are still unknowns, the judicial police can not get inside the site”.
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Hollande appealed for “unity” in France, where political blame trading has poisoned the aftermath of the truck attack, the third major strike in the country in 18 months. The Islamic State extremist group is claiming responsibility.
There were no immediate details on the identity or motives of the two assailants but the investigation was handed to the anti-terrorist unit of the Paris prosecutor’s office.
“I cry out to God, with all men of good will”. The two attackers, whom the terror group described as “soldiers”, according to the Associated Press, were later shot and killed by police.
“We must lead this war with all our means”, he said in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray.
France remains on high alert almost two weeks after Tunisian Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel ploughed a truck into a crowd of people celebrating Bastille Day in Nice, killing 84 people and injuring over 300.
The interior ministry of France said that the two hostage-takers had been neutralized by the France police.
The Vatican condemned the “barbarous killing” saying Pope Francis was horrified by the news.
“The Catholic Church can take up no other weapons than prayer and fraternity between men”, he said in a statement.
“The pope… shares the pain and horror of this absurd violence”, Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi said as cited by AFP, adding that the attack created “immense pain and worry”.
/He is charged with killing a young woman inside her vehicle the same day.
The French Interior Ministry later on confirmed that the two attackers were shot dead by the police.
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French newspaper Le Figaro reported that the church was suspected to have been on a list of Catholic places of worship in the area around Paris drawn up as possible targets by Sid Ahmed Ghlam, an Algerian student arrested a year ago on suspicion of murdering a mother of one during a botched attempt to attack a church in Villejuif.
