An 84-year-old priest has been butchered after two knifemen stormed a French church for hostages and slit his throat.
A second hostage is reportedly fighting for their life.
Five people including the priest, two nuns and two parishioners were held by the assailants after they raided the church in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray, near the city of Rouen in Normandy at 9am.
At least one of the men was dressed in Islamic clothing, according to French media reports, and an anti-terrorist unit has already taken up the investigation.
The siege officially ended at around 11am, following the shooting of the two attackers.
French Prime Minister Manuel Valls tweeted that he was “horrified at the barbaric attack”, adding: “All France and all Catholics are bruised.”
A police spokesman at the scene said the attack has “shocked the community”.
The attack comes almost two weeks after the Bastille Day massacre in Nice which left 84 people dead after Tunisian Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhel drove a truck into a crowd celebrating the national holiday on 14 July.
France has been under a state of emergency since the terror attacks in Paris in November last year.
