French jihadist attack church, kills priest

A priest was killed in church attack by French jihadist , further inflaming tensions over security failures in the violence-weary nation.

Adel Kermiche, 19, who was under house arrest on terror charges, was one of two attackers who stormed a Catholic church in the northern town of Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray during morning mass on Tuesday, slitting the throat of an 86-year-old priest and leaving a worshipper with serious injuries, said Paris prosecutor Francois Molins.

The attack, claimed by the Islamic State group, comes with France still in mourning less than two weeks after Tunisian Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel ploughed a truck into a crowd in the Riviera city of Nice, killing 84 people and injuring over 300.

The carnage, the third major strike on France in 18 months, prompted a bitter political spat over alleged security failings and revelations over the church attack were likely to raise further questions.