Arson Attack on Czech Arms Factory Being Investigated as Terrorism
Czech authorities are investigating an apparent arson attack on a weapons factory in Pardubice as a potential terrorist attack. One group claims responsibility and cites the company’s relations with Israel.
The warehouse of the Elbit Systems arms factory in Pardubice, Czechia, was engulfed in flames on Friday after a suspected arson attack. The company, which produces drones and other technologies for the aerospace and military industries, said it had ended cooperation with Israel and had not even produced drones for the Israeli military.
However, a group calling itself “Earthquake Faction” claimed responsibility, citing the company’s ties to Israel, suggesting a pro-Palestinian or pro-Iranian motivation, the Czech daily said. Block reported
“We are an internationalist clandestine network that targets key locations vital to the Zionist entity,” the group said.
“Elbit Systems describes itself as the backbone of the Israeli military and supplies most of the ground and air weapons used in Israeli attacks on Iran and the genocide in Palestine,” the alleged arsonists added.
However, some have suggested that the attack may have been a so-called false flag operation and that the arms factory was actually targeted because of its supply of drones to Ukraine.
Extremism expert Jan Charvát of Charles University in Prague said it is possible that the perpetrators are genuine pro-Palestinian radicals, Iran-linked terrorists or pro-Russian supporters.
“For an attack of this type, it would be logical to attack a company that manufactures drones for Ukraine, which is the case with this Czech company,” Charvát said.
Terrorism expert Oldřich Bureš emphasized that at this stage everything is still speculation: “We have experience of past arson attacks in the Czech Republic, where they were more like hybrid threats hired by the Russian Federation. We have arson attacks in other European countries, where left-wing groups were involved.”
Commenting on the attack, Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš said: “The security authorities are working, the incident is being investigated. We have taken a number of measures. This happened in a private company, so the main thing is to send a message to all manufacturers who produce defense equipment to secure their premises. The premises of the attacked company were not secured.”
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