France church attack: Second killer was on intel services' radar

The second jihadist involved in a French church attack had tried to travel to Syria, prosecutors said yesterday

Paris: The second jihadist involved in a French church attack had tried to travel to Syria, prosecutors said yesterday.

Abdel Malik Petitjean. Pic/AFP

The prosecutor’s office said that the second killer was 19-year-old Abdel Malik Petitjean, who was listed on France’s “Fiche S” of people posing a potential threat to national security in June after trying to reach Syria from Turkey.

Petitjean, whose face was disfigured after being gunned down by police, had been harder to identify than his accomplice Adel Kermiche (19) and investigators confirmed his identity after a DNA match with his mother.

The two young jihadists were shown pledging allegiance to ISIS in a video before they stormed a church in the town of Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray Tuesday and slit the priest’s throat.

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