Here's What We Know About the Hostage Situation in France
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Two attackers stormed a Catholic church in France and slit an 86-year-old priest's throat in the name of the Islamic State.
The men attacked a church in the region of Normandy, France on Tuesday killing Rev. Jacques Hamel and holding two nuns and two parishioners hostage, according to CNN.
Associated Press - apimages.com
Police shot and killed the two attackers.
French President Francois Hollande said that the attack in the village of Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray was a "cowardly assassination" carried out by Islamic State supporters.
One of the attackers was reportedly on a watch list and was forced to wear a bracelet for authorities to track his movements, according to The Washington Post. It is unclear if he was being tracked at the time of the attacks.
People on Twitter were saddened by the attack and noted that France has become a target for the Islamic State.
The country is still reeling from Bastille Day attack that killed 84 people in Nice, France.
On July 14, a supporter of the Islamic State drove a truck down a main street in Nice, France on Bastille Day, a national French holiday comparable to the Fourth of July in the U.S. The truck intentionally mowed down French families and tourists who were celebrating.
Last year Islamic State supporters killed 130 people in Paris.
Terrorists shot Parisians and tourists outside of a restaurant and concert hall in November of 2015. They then took more than 100 people hostage inside the Bataclan concert hall where the majority of victims were killed.
AP/Thibault Camus - apimages.com
In the wake of these attacks, Hollande said that France is "in a war against terrorism."
"We are not committed to a war of civilizations, because these assassins don't represent any civilization," Hollande said. "We are in a war against terrorism, jihadism, which threatens the whole world."
