A priest has been killed in an attack by two armed men at his church near Rouen in northern France, police and French media have said.

The armed men entered the church in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray during mass, taking the priest, two nuns and several churchgoers hostage, reports said.

French TV said shots had been heard after police arrived at the scene. Both hostage-takers are now said to be dead.

The area has been cordoned off and police have told people to stay away.

President Francois Hollande and Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve are on their way to the town to be briefed by police.

ISIS claim responsibility for killing of French priest during Mass

ISIS have reportedly claimed the attack was carried out by two “soldiers” from the group, while French President Francois Hollande called it a “vile terrorist attack” and said it’s another sign that France is at war with ISIS, which has claimed a string of attacks on France.

“I cry out to God with all men of good will. I would invite non-believers to join in the cry,” Archbishop Lebrun, who is returning to France from World Youth Day in Krakow, said in his statement.

“The Catholic Church cannot take weapons other than those of prayer and brotherhood among men. I leave here hundreds of young people who are the future of humanity, the true ones. I ask them not to give in to the violence and become apostles of the civilization of love.”

According to reports, the priest died after his throat was cut. Another person inside the church was seriously injured and is hovering between life and death, Interior Ministry spokesman Pierre-Henry Brandet said.

French police shot the hostage-takers dead after elite police units stormed the building.

Brandet said the RAID special intervention force was searching the perimeter of the church for possible explosives and terrorism investigators had been summoned.