FRANCE –  The murder of two French police officials by a man claiming allegiance to so-called Islamic State (IS) is ‘unquestionably a terrorist act’, President Francois Hollande says.

A police commander and his partner were stabbed to death at their home west of Paris. Their three-year-old survived. The attacker was killed in an police assault on the house. He had spent time in jail over jihadist links and had a list of targets including public figures, police say.

Named by French sources as Larossi Abballa, he had also been under recent police surveillance, including a wiretap, say media reports quoting police sources. Paris Prosecutor Francois Molin said that Abballa had pledged his loyalty to IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi during negotiations prior to the police assault on Monday, and had stated that he was answering his call ‘to kill infidels’. Three people linked to the man were arrested and placed in custody, he said. (BBC NEWS/photo: bbc.co.uk)…[+]