SAINT-ETIENNE-DU-ROUVRAY, France // ISIL said on Tuesday that two of its “soldiers” stormed a French church and slit an elderly priest’s throat, the latest in a string of attacks to shake the country.
The hostage drama in the Normandy town of Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray came less than two weeks after the lorry massacre in the French Riviera city of Nice, which killed 84 people and was also claimed by ISIL.
Two attackers entered the centuries-old stone St-Etienne church, situated on a calm square in the working-class town of about 30,000 people, during morning mass.
Sister Danielle, a nun who was in the church at the time, said priest Jaques Hamel, who was in his eighties, was wearing his white cloaks and was at the foot of the altar when “they forced him to get on his knees and not move”.
“He tried to struggle, he tried,” she said. “He knew what was happening.”
She said the men were speaking Arabic and shouting and had “recorded” the attack. She managed to run away and alert the police.
Five people were taken hostage in the church, with three released unharmed and another in a critical condition.
A source close to the investigation said the attackers, who were later shot dead by police, were armed with knives, an old pistol which did not work, and a “fake package” that appeared as if it contained explosives.
The priest was named as Hamel and was in his eighties.
The local imam Mohammed Karabila said he was “stunned by the death of my friend. He was someone who gave his life to others. We are dumbfounded at the mosque”.
Meanwhile, Pope Francis voiced his “pain and horror” at the “barbaric killing” of the priest.
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ANALYSIS: Why no human or place can be considered safe from ISIL attack
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It was the fourth attack claimed by ISIL in Europe in two weeks. The attacks have been carried out by a mixed bag of assailants more or less inspired by the group from afar, some of whom are reported to have suffered mental illness.
French president Francois Hollande said the men who carried out Tuesday’s attack had claimed they were acting on behalf of ISIL before being shot dead.
Shortly afterwards the ISIL-linked Amaq news agency, citing a “security source”, said the perpetrators were “soldiers of the Islamic State who carried out the attack in response to calls to target countries of the Crusader coalition”.
Grey clouds hung over the town on Tuesday afternoon, near-deserted as stores shuttered for the day after the attack. Forensic police were combing the site for clues.
Police carried out two raids in the town and at least one person was taken into custody.
Joanna Torrent, a 22-year-old store employee, was stunned to see terror hit her small town, far from bustling tourist hubs like Paris and Nice.
“I thought it would only be in big cities, that it couldn’t reach here,” she said.
France has been on high alert after three major attacks in 18 months.
When Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel ploughed a lorry into crowds celebrating Bastille Day in Nice on July 14, a bitter political spat erupted over alleged security failings, with authorities accused of not doing enough to protect people.
On Tuesday Mr Hollande appealed for “unity” and warned that “the threat remains very high”.
“We are confronted with a group, Daesh, which has declared war on us,” he said.
“The Catholic community has been hit, but it is all of the French public which is concerned.”
The two attackers have not yet been formally identified, but sources close to the investigation said one of the men is thought to be known to antiterror investigators.
They believe he went to Syria in 2015 and was charged on his return with association with a terrorist group and released from detention with an electronic monitoring bracelet.
* Agence France-Presse
