Islamic State Group Claims Responsibility for Normandy Church Attack

A police car blocks an underpass leading to the scene of a hostage situation in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray, near Rouen, France, on July 26, 2016. Photo by EPA

Islamic State group said a Catholic church attack in Normandy, France was carried out by its ‘soldiers’, the Associated Press reported on Tuesday, citing a statement from the news agency of the organisation.

French President Francois Hollande has confirmed that the attack, in which two men took five people hostage in the town of Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray during morning mass Tuesday, was a ‘cowardly assasination’ committed in the name of Daesh, an Arabic name for the Islamic State group.

An 84-year-old French Catholic priest saying mass was slain and three other people were wounded in the hostage drama.

The two assailants were killed in a police operation to end the attack. 

Their identities remain unclear, according to a French Interior Ministry spokesman.

A Vatican spokesman defined the attack as a “terrible news, which unfortunately adds to a series of violent acts” creating “immense pain and worry.”

 

We need your support so Novinite.com can keep delivering news and information about Bulgaria! Thank you!