Priest had throat cut while another hostage is fighting for life after knifemen burst into Normandy church at 9am Nun who escaped said killers told her 'You Christians, you kill us' before they killed Father Jacques Hamel
ISIS claim responsibility for the atrocity while Francois Hollande says France is 'at war' with the terror group
One attacker named as 19-year-old Adel Kermiche, known to police for twice trying to join the terror group in Syria
He was jailed but released on bail - under conditions that allowed him to roam free in the morning and kill the priest
French authorities revealed they arrested a third man, a 16-year-old Saint- Etienne resident, relating to the attack
Nicolas Sarkozy calls for 'merciless' response as ex-PM said 'everything is being done to trigger a war of religions'
One of a pair of ISIS knifemen who stormed a church in Normandy before slitting the throat of an elderly priest has been named as known terror threat Adel Kermiche. The 19-year-old 'ISIS soldier' was being monitored with an electronic ankle tag after he was arrested for twice attempting to flee France to join the terror group in Syria.
Despite having been released early from prison, Kermiche's bail conditions allowed him to roam unsupervised between 8.30am and 12.30pm, leaving him free to murder the priest in the attack carried out between 9am and 11am. Kermiche and his accomplice - also known to French police - forced 84-year- old Father Jacques Hamel to kneel before filming themselves butchering him and performing a 'sermon in Arabic' at the altar of the church in Saint- Etienne-du-Rouvray, according to witnesses. Both were shot dead by police marksmen as they emerged from the building shouting 'Allahu Akbar' following the attack that also left a nun critically injured.
Sister Danielle, a nun who escaped, said: 'They told me "you Christians, you kill us". They forced him to his knees. He wanted to defend himself. And that's when the tragedy happened. They recorded themselves. They did a sort of sermon around the altar, in Arabic. It's a horror.' French President Francois Hollande, who visited the scene on Tuesday, said the country is now 'at war' with ISIS after the terror group claimed responsibility.
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