French police knew about radical views of the Church attacker

One of the attackers in the recent church attack in France was under close police surveillance following two failed attempts to join ISIS in Syria, says France's anti-terrorism prosecutor.

On Tuesday, 19-year-old Adel Kermiche and an unnamed second attacker were killed by security forces following their exit from a church in Normandy after killing a priest and taking several hostages. After the incident, the Amaq news agency, which is affiliated to the Takfiri terrorist group, announced that two of its members had launched the attack. 

Kermiche was in prison since May 2015 when he was detained for trying to reach Syria, but was released in March despite rejection by Paris prosecutors, said Francois Molins.

After his release, he was forced to wear an electronic tag in order to be tracked by the police and was only allowed limited hours outside his home. 

In March 2015, Kermiche first tried to travel to Syria with his brother’s identification card, but was halted by police in Germany after his family notified authorities of his disappearance.

Following the church incident, French President Francois Hollande released a statement condemning it as a “vile terrorist attack” which was carried out by ISIS.