France church attack: Priest, attackers killed

   An 84-year-old priest has been killed with a knife, and another person seriously wounded, after two men with alleged links to the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) took several people hostage in an attack on a church in northern France.

The priest reportedly had his throat slit on Tuesday before French police entered and shot dead the attackers, a French police source told the Reuters news agency.

The Paris-based AFP news agency, citing the ministry, said a second hostage was "fighting for life" after the incident in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray, Normandy, but indicated the other three hostages had made it out unharmed.

Speaking outside the church, French President Francois Hollande called it a "dreadful terrorist attack" and told reporters the attackers had pledged allegiance to ISIL, also known as ISIS.

The ISIL-linked news agency Amaq said two of its "soldiers" had carried out the attack.

"We are put to the test yet again," Hollande said. "The threat remains very high."