Live updates: Church attacker urges all Muslims to destroy France in new video

  • France is in shock after two Islamic State followers slit the throat of an elderly priest
  • The attackers stormed a Normandy church and took hostages before they were killed by police
  • The men apparently forced Father Jacques Hamel to kneel before killing him and filming it
  • Adel Kermiche, 19, has been named as one of the attackers
  • Kermiche was on probation and had twice attempted to travel to Syria
  • The other has been identified as 19 year old Abdel-Malik Nabil Petitjean
  • IS released a video of the pair pledging allegiance late on Wednesday
  • IS-affiliated news agency Amaq released another video showing Petitjean urging Muslims to destroy France and attack the West

Live updates

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DNA tests confirm identity of second man in priest killing

DNA tests show Abdel-Malik Nabil Petit Jean (right) was one of the men who killed a priest in a Normandy church.

DNA tests have confirmed the second man who killed a priest in a church in Normandy was Abdel-Malik Nabil Petit Jean, French prosecutors said.

The 19-year-old, who was born in the eastern Vosges region of France, slit the throat of Father Jacques Hamel with Adel Kermiche, also 19, during morning Mass in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray, outside Rouen, on Tuesday.

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Scuffles at scene of French priest's murder captured live

Emotions have spilled over between anti-government protesters and mourners near the scene where a French priest was murdered yesterday.

As ITV News correspondent Juliet Bremner reported live from the scene, there was an angry confrontation between a group holding a banner in protest at the leadership of President Francois Hollande and people who had come to pay their respects to Father Jacques Hamel, who was killed.

Police eventually moved in to separate the groups.

"There is growing fury that this government doesn't seem to be able to provide the security that will keep people safe," Juliet explained.

"The people that were unfurling the banner have angered others who've come here to lay their flowers, their candles and to write in a book of condolence and want to see unity in the name of the priest who lost his life."

French religious leaders call for unity after priest murder

Representatives of religious communities meet Francois Hollande. Credit: Reuters

Religious leaders in France have called for unity after a meeting with President Francois Hollande.

It follows the murder of a priest in Normandy by supporters of the so-called Islamic State group.

Paris Imam Dalil Boubakeur said France's Muslims must ensure clerics are better trained and called for reform of French Muslim institutions.

The Archbishop of Paris, Cardinal Andre Vingt-Trois, called on Catholics to "overcome hatred that comes in their heart" and not to "enter the game" of IS that "wants to set children of the same family in opposition to each other".

UK churches told to review security after France murder

Police near the church in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvra where the priest died. Credit: Reuters

Churches and other sections of the Christian community in Britain have been urged to be "alert" following the murder of an elderly priest in France.

There is no specific intelligence about an attack, but police have told places of worship to "review their security arrangements as a precaution".

Two supporters of the so-called Islamic State group killed Father Jacques Hamel at a Normandy church on Tuesday.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu said: "As we have seen, Daesh (another name for IS) and other terrorist groups have targeted Christian as well as Jewish and other faith groups in the West and beyond.

"Following recent events in France, we are reiterating our protective security advice to Christian places of worship and have circulated specific advice today."

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