On Tuesday, two armed men took five people hostage at a church in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray, Normandy. The attackers were later killed, while at least one hostage was murdered and three people were wounded, one severely. Soon after the incident, French media reported that one of the attackers was extradited back to France after trying to go to Syria in 2015 and put under police supervision.
"Authorities are in contact with communities, individual measures based on needs assessment [are being taken]," Karl-Heinz Grundboeck said, when asked if religious communities have recently been consulted on measures to enhance security at places of worship.
Following the attack on the church in Normandy, claimed by the Islamic State jihadist group, which is banned in Russia and many other countries, UK police urged religious institutions to assess the security measures currently in place. The Home Office also unveiled a multi-million dollar security funding scheme for places of worship in England and Wales to provide them with various equipment like CCTV, fencing, alarms and locks.
