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Second French church attacker known to police

The second man in the French church attack was known to security services as suspected of having Islamist militant links, sources say.

French police vehicles and firemen arrive at the scene of a hostage-taking at a church in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray, northern France
French police vehicles and firemen arrive at the scene of a hostage-taking at a church in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray, northern France. Source: Getty Images

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Source: AAP


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Police have identified the second assailant who attacked a church in northern France this week as a 19-year-old known to security services as suspected of having Islamist militant links, sources say.

Police identified the man as Abdel-Malik Nabil Petitjean from a town in eastern France on the border with Germany, a judicial source told Reuters.

Security services had in June opened a special file on Petitjean for becoming radicalised, a police source said separately.

The government has said there are about 10,500 such people in France.

Petitjean and an already identified accomplice, Adel Kermiche, took hostages at a church in Normandy on Tuesday before slitting the threat of an elderly priest at the altar.


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