– Hollande Vows “All Out War” Against ISIS After Priest Killing:
Shortly after the latest terror attack on French soil by two ISIS “soldiers”, President Francois Hollande, who was roundly disparaged 12 days ago for the country’s lack of preparedness to the Nice truck terror attack which killed 84, vowed to wage war against the Islamic State “by every means“.
“We are confronted with a group, Daesh, which has declared war on us,” Hollande said, using an alternative name for Isis. “We have to wage war, by every means, (but through) upholding the law, which is because we are a democracy.”
#SaintEtienneDuRouvray a “cowardly assassination” by terrorists pledged to IS – @fhollande https://t.co/fCpNyyaOAd https://t.co/Ko65IL1g1w
— BBC Breaking News (@BBCBreaking) July 26, 2016
Hollande was speaking in a lightning visit to the northern French town of Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray, just hours after the attack took place. Shortly after he spoke terror group Isis claimed responsibility saying that its “soldiers” had carried out the attack.
“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”.
The two assailants entered a local church, slitting the throat of an 84-year-old priest and leaving another hostage with life-threatening injuries, before being killed by police as they left the building, police said.
Hollande said the assailants “claimed to be from Daesh” and branded the assault as a “vile terrorist attack”. “The Catholic community has been hit, but it is all of the French public which is concerned,” Hollande said.
He called for national unity in the face of terrorism, urging the French people to “create a solid bloc that no-one can split”.
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.
As we reported previously, France has already announced it would send an aircraft carrier in proximity to Syria to help fight ISIS. It remains to be seen if after today’s attack it will also expand its involvement by sending ground troops in Syria and/or Iraq.
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