An elderly priest was “assassinated” and another person seriously wounded when attackers armed with knives took hostages during morning Mass at a church in France early Tuesday.
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French police vehicles and firemen arrive at the scene of a hostage-taking at a church in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray, northern France, on July 26, 2016 that left the priest dead.
The Paris prosecutor said the incident was being investigated by the national counter-terrorism task force and the General Directorate for Internal Security (DGSI) intelligence agency. France is also under a state of emergency and has heightened the police presence after the Nice attack, where a man drove his truck down the city’s famed Promenade des Anglais, mowing down holiday crowds.
He said the church was surrounded by France’s anti-gang brigade the BRI, which specialises in kidnappings, and that “the two assailants came out and were killed by police”.
Hollande urged the public to remain unified in the face of the threat.
A cell directed by Abaaoud later carried out the November 13 attacks in Paris that left 130 people dead and the March 22 attacks in Brussels that killed 32 people. Islamic State claimed the attack in Nice.
However with some 45,000 Catholic churches, and thousands more Protestant and evangelical churches, protecting all places of worship is a massive headache for security services. “Terrorists will not give up on anything until we stop them”.
In a statement, the Vatican said Pope Francis shares the “sorrow and horror” felt over the incident, adding: “We are particularly struck because this disgusting violence has occurred in a church – a sacred place where we pronounce God’s love – with the barbaric murder of a priest and worshippers affected”.
Lebrun said in a statement that the “Catholic church can not take up any other weapons but prayer and brotherhood among men”.
Israeli President Reuven Rivlin condemned the attack. “Pray for France, for victims, for their communities”. “We will stand together”, wrote the French Prime Minister on his Twitter account.
Three of the hostages were freed unharmed, and another was fighting for their life, said Brandet.
A police cordon has been set up around the scene in the town, about 108 kilometers (67 miles) northwest of Paris. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to reveal details of the investigation, said the man was under police supervision and wore an electronic bracelet to monitor his movements.
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French interior minister Bernard Cazeneuve, who visited the scene with the president, said he felt “horror at this barbarity, great solidarity with all the Catholics in France in this moment of trial”.
