Two attackers who took several people hostage at a church in France have been killed, according to police.
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Hollande was joined by Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve at the site of the church attack in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray, about 35 miles southeast of the port of Le Havre.
The Catholic priest, the Rev. Jacques Hamel, 86, was killed when two men stormed the church in the northern region of Normandy, Dominique Lebrun, the Archbishop of Rouen, said in a statement posted on the diocese website.
A police source said it appeared that the priest had had his throat slit.
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.
French President Francois Hollande, who is at the scene, said the attackers claimed to be members of the terror group and slammed what he described as a “vile terrorist attack”.
One was targeted previous year, but the attack never was carried out.
French news sources report that it is unclear whether the motive of the attack was terrorism.
Islamic State extremists have urged followers to attack French churches and the group is believed to have planned at least one church attack earlier.
“We are confronted with a group, Daesh, which has declared war on us”, Hollande said, using an alternative name for IS.
Two attackers held nuns and a number of other people hostage inside a church in the city of Rouen.
France has been under emergency rule since Islamist militants killed 130 people last November in multiple attacks on Paris and outside the Stade de France stadium.
Anti-terrorist authorities in Paris have opened an inquiry into the hostage-taking.
Pope Francis condemned the “absurd violence” and “all forms of hatred”, according to his spokesman Father Federico Lombardi. He said the Church “cannot take weapons other than those of prayer and brotherhood among men”. Sid Ahmed Ghlam had been arrested in April 2015, charged with killing a woman.
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The attack was the latest in a string of deadly assaults including the mass killing in Nice, southern France, on Bastille Day 12 days ago and four incidents in Germany, most recently a suicide bombing at a concert in Ansbach on Sunday.
