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Czech authorities have launched an investigation into what appears to be an arson attack on an arms manufacturing facility in Pardubice, treating it as a potential act of terrorism. A group has claimed responsibility for the fire, citing the company’s past business associations with Israel as a motive.
On Friday, a blaze erupted at the Elbit Systems warehouse in Pardubice, Czechia, believed to be caused by arson. The company, known for producing drones and advanced technologies for aerospace and military purposes, stated that it had ceased any collaboration with Israel and had not manufactured drones for the Israeli Defense Forces.
Despite this, a group identifying itself as the ‘Earthquake Faction’ took responsibility for the attack, pointing to the firm’s historical connections with Israel. This indicates a possible pro-Palestinian or pro-Iranian motive, according to reports from the Czech newspaper Blesk.
The group declared, “We are an internationalist underground network targeting key sites crucial to the Zionist entity.”
They further alleged, “Elbit Systems portrays itself as the backbone of the Israeli military, supplying the majority of ground and air weaponry used in Israel’s operations against Iran and what they termed as the genocide in Palestine.”
However, some have suggested that the attack may have been a so-called false flag operation, and that the arms factory was actually targeted over its supplying of drones to Ukraine.
Extremism expert Jan Charvát of Prague’s Charles University said that it is possible that the perpetrators could be genuine pro-Palestine radicals, Iranian-tied terrorists, or pro-Russian partisans.
“For an attack of this kind, it would make sense to attack a company that manufactures drones that are shipped to Ukraine, which this Czech company is,” Charvát said.
Terrorism expert Oldřich Bureš noted that everything is still speculation at this point, saying: “We have experience with arson attacks from the past in the Czech Republic, where they were more likely hired hybrid threats from the Russian Federation. We have arson attacks from other European countries where left-wing groups were involved.”
Commenting on the attack, Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš said, “Security authorities are working, the incident is being investigated. We have taken a number of measures. It happened at a private company, so the main thing is to send a message to all manufacturers who produce defense material to secure their premises. The premises of the company that was attacked were not secured.”