Church Attackers Used |Nuns as Human Shields

PARIS (AP) — A prosecutor says two men who attacked a Normandy church and killed a priest had fake explosives and used nuns as human shields.

Prosecutor Francois Molins said the attackers, who claimed allegiance to the Islamic State group, also cried "Allahu akbar" during the attack.

One attacker was identified as 19-year-old Adel Kermiche. Molins said the other is still being identified.

He also said a minor has been detained in the investigation, who is believed to be a 16-year-old younger brother of someone wanted by police for trying to go to Syria or Iraq in 2015.

Police raids are still under way.

French President Francois Hollande cancelled a visit to the Czech Republic for a second time after the Islamic State group attack on the church.

Hollande was scheduled to meet his Czech counterpart Czech President Milos Zeman and Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka to discuss the security situation in Europe following a wave of attacks in France and Germany and the future of the European Union after Britain decided to leave the bloc in a referendum.

Hollande was originally scheduled to meet the Czech leaders last week but cancelled that trip following the deadly attack in the city of Nice.

Meanwhile, Francois Molins said one of the men who attacked a Normandy church evaded police twice using relatives' ID cards in attempts to reach Syria.

Molins told reporters that 19-year-old Adel Kermiche was wearing an electronic surveillance bracelet when he and another attacker slit the throat of a priest in the town of Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray Tuesday.

Molins said the bracelet was deactivated for a few hours every morning, corresponding with the time of the attack.

He said Kermiche was arrested in Germany in March 2015 trying to join extremists in Syria using his brother's ID, and then was arrested in Turkey two months later using a cousin's ID.

Molins said the person who was injured in the attack is no longer in life-threatening condition.

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