France church attack: Priest killed in hostage-taking near Rouen

A priest has been killed in an attack by two armed men at his church in a suburb of Rouen in northern France.

The attackers entered the church in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray during Mass, taking the priest, Fr Jacques Hamel, 84, and four other people hostage.

Police later surrounded the church and French TV said shots were fired. Both hostage-takers are now dead.

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President Francois Hollande said the men claimed to be from so-called Islamic State (IS).
Speaking in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray, he said the attackers had committed a "cowardly assassination" and France would fight IS "by all means".
Pope Francis decried the "pain and horror of this absurd violence".

84yr-old Fr Jacques Hamel was killed

French interior ministry spokesman, Pierre-Henri Brandet, said one of the hostages had been critically wounded.

He said the hostage-takers had been "neutralised" after coming out of the church. Police were now searching the church for explosives.

Source: BBC NEWS