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 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. Kermiche and his accomplice - also known to French police - forced 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.
This morning, French religious leaders joined forces to call for reinforced security. Scroll down for video. Adel Kermiche pictured right and left, in , 19, has been named as one of the two ISIS knifemen who stormed into a church in Normandy and cut the throat of an year-old Catholic priest Jacques Hamel before being shot dead by police. A French policeman cordons off the area around the body of one of the two knifemen. Parisian prosecutor Francois Molins revealed that the pair were carrying a fake bomb with a timer, a handgun and knives during the attack and said they used nuns as human shields.
Father Jacques Hamel had his throat cut in the attack that also left a nun critically injured. He was at the church because he was filling in for the local priest who was on holiday.
