Who Were The Normandy Church Attackers?

A priest has been killed by two armed men who slit his throat in a church in the Normandy town of Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray.

Another person was seriously injured as the assailants stormed the building and took hostages during morning mass, before being shot dead by French police.

The attack has been claimed by Islamic State (IS), which said the men were its "soldiers".

So what do we know about the two attackers?

One of the assailants has been identified as 19-year-old Adel Kermiche, who lived in the town.

He had been under surveillance following two failed attempts to get to Syria last year, according to France's anti-terror prosecutor.

Kermiche was arrested in Germany in March 2015 as he tried to join extremists in the war-ravaged country using his brother's identification.

And then he was detained in Turkey two months later using a cousin's ID.

When he was returned to France, Kermiche was detained until March this year when he was released and had to wear an electronic tag so authorities knew where he was.

But the tag was turned off for a few hours every morning, corresponding with the time of the church atrocity.

Kermiche's relatives had previously alerted authorities to his radicalism to try to stop him heading to Syria, according to a family friend.

And a witness said he had once threatened to attack a church.

The identity of the other assailant in Tuesday's attack in Normandy has not yet been revealed.

Meanwhile, a suspect, believed to be 17 and whose brother reportedly went to Syria last year, has been arrested as part of the church investigation.

IS has previously encouraged its followers to attack Christian places of worship.

Last summer, it said to target "traffic areas, such as tourist sites, supermarkets, synagogues, churches, Masonic Lodges, the permanence of political parties. The goal is to instil fear in their heart".

It is not believed to be the first time jihadists have planned to target places of worship in France.

In April 2015, Algerian national Sid Ahmed Ghlam was arrested in Paris on suspicion of planning to attack churches in the capital.

He was detained after he apparently shot himself by accident and called an ambulance.