Czech authorities are investigating an apparent arson attack on an arms factory in Pardubice as a potential terror attack, with a group claiming responsibility and citing the firm’s dealings with Israel.
The Elbit Systems arms factory warehouse in Pardubice, Czechia, was engulfed in flames on Friday after a suspected arson attack. The firm, which produces drones and other tech for aerospace and military industries, said that it had ended its cooperation with Israel and had not even produced any drones for the Israel Defence Forces.
Nevertheless, a group calling itself the ‘Earthquake Faction’ claimed responsibility, citing the company’s ties to Israel, suggesting either a pro-Palestinian or pro-Iranian motivation, Czech daily Blesk reported
“We are an internationalist underground 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 provides most of the ground and air weapons used in Israel’s 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 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.”
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