France will not extend state of emergency beyond 26 July Published duration 14 July 2016 Related Topics November 2015 Paris attacks

media caption France has declared a state of emergency following the attacks on Paris

France will not extend the state of emergency imposed after last year's Islamist militant attacks in Paris in November beyond 26 July, President Francois Hollande has announced.

The president said in his traditional Bastille Day interview that it would not make sense for the emergency to be extended indefinitely.

That would mean the rule of law "no longer applied", Mr Hollande said.

France has twice extended the state of emergency since it was first imposed.

The last extension was granted to cover the Euro 2016 soccer tournament and the end of the Tour de France cycling race.

The state of emergency was enforced after 13 November, when 130 people died in co-ordinated gun and bomb attacks on a concert hall, restaurants and the Stade de France, where an international football match was taking place.

Earlier in the year, in January, an attack on the offices of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo and the siege of a Jewish supermarket in Paris had resulted in the deaths of 17 people.

image copyright EPA image caption Between 6,000 and 7,000 soldiers have been deployed to protect sensitive sites

image copyright AP image caption The attacks in Paris in November left 130 people dead

A recent commission found that the state of emergency was only having a "limited impact" on improving security.

It questioned the deployment of between 6,000 and 7,000 soldiers to protect schools, synagogues, department stores and other sensitive sites.