The French government reintroduced identity checks at its shared borders with other members of the visa-free Schengen zone after a group of Islamic State (ISIS) jihadists launched a wave of coordinated suicide bombings and shootings in Paris on the night of November 13, 2015, killing 130 people and injuring scores more. The security border control has been renewed every six months since then as France, while the society is plagued by terrorist attacks since then. The French interior ministry said: “Considering the number of recent and thwarted attacks, particularly the one in Trèbes, that have hit French territory, the government has decided a new extension.”

The interior ministry spokesperson was referring to the March 23 terrorist attack in the sleepy southern town of Trèbes during which four people were shot dead by Moroccan-born Frenchman Radouane Lakdrim, a radical Islamist known to police for his links to the hardline Salafi movement. “We received notification from France this week,” a spokesperson said at briefing in the European Commission when asked if France indicated an extension of controls for six months beyond the current expiry date of April 30.
The European Commission reveals it has received notice from France that the nation intends to extend passport checks, normally not carried out at Schengen Area borders, for six months beyond the present April 30 expiry date.