How priest's throat was slit in France church attack

An elderly priest had his throat slit in a church in northern France on Tuesday after two men stormed the building and took hostages.

The attack in the Normandy town of Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray came as France was still coming to terms with the massacre in the French Riviera city of Nice claimed by the Islamic State group.

Here is what we know so far about the latest bloodshed:

- What happened? -

Two men arrived at the 17th century Eglise Saint-Etienne church during morning mass, storming the building and taking five hostages inside.

During the siege they killed a retired priest in his 80s by slitting his throat and seriously injured another captive.

The victim was father Jacques Hamel, a semi-retired assistant parish priest, according to the archbishop of nearby Rouen Dominique Lebrun.

Hamel was born in 1930 in Darnetal, a town near Saint-Etienne du Rouvray and was ordained in 1958, according to information on the diocesan website.

- Taken down by police -

As the two attackers made to leave the church they were confronted by a French police unit specialising in hostage situations, the BRI, and shot dead.

Three of the hostages were freed unharmed.

The scene was then secured by officers from France's elite RAID unit who scoured the area for explosive devices. None were found.

- Who were the attackers? -

The Islamic State group said on Tuesday that the two assailants were its "soldiers," an IS-linked news agency reported.

"The perpetrators of the Normandy church attack are soldiers of the Islamic State who carried out the attack in response to calls to target countries of the Crusader coalition," the Amaq news agency said, citing a "security source".

Little else is known about the attackers.

Anti-terror prosecutors have now taken over the case in cooperation with France's domestic intelligence service, the DGSI.

- Deadly summer surge -

President Francois Hollande vowed Tuesday to wage war against Islamic State (IS) "by every means" within the law.

"We are confronted with a group, Daesh, which has declared war on us," Hollande said, using an alternative name for the Islamic State group.

France remains on high alert after Tunisian Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel ploughed a truck into a crowd of people celebrating Bastille Day in Nice, killing 84 people and injuring over 300.

The July 14 massacre was the third major terror attack in France in little more than 18 months.

(AFP)