Headlines
Czechs Investigate Fire After Reports of anti-Israel Group Claiming Responsibility
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on March 20, 2026
2 min readLast updated: March 20, 2026
Global Banking & Finance Review®
Company
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on March 20, 2026
2 min readLast updated: March 20, 2026
Czech authorities are investigating a fire at an LPP Holding facility in Pardubice as a possible terrorist attack, after a protest group opposing Israeli weapons claimed responsibility. The incident is being treated under terrorism statutes, with no injuries reported and the company cooperating with
PRAGUE, March 20 (Reuters) - Czech investigators are probing an overnight fire at an industrial complex as potentially being a deliberate attack, officials said on Friday, following media reports that a group protesting against Israeli weapons claimed responsibility.
Firefighters said on X that they had responded to a fire at a storage hall in a complex in Pardubice, 120 km (75 miles) east of Prague. No one was injured in the fire, which spread to another building.
Czech news website Aktualne.cz reported that a protest group said it had set fire to a "key manufacturing hub" for Israeli weapons in Pardubice to end its role in the "genocide in Gaza."
Czech defence firm LPP Holding in a statement on its website said it had confirmed that a fire broke out at one of its facilities on Friday and it was cooperating with authorities.
The company, with a location in the complex, announced plans in 2023 to cooperate with Israeli company Elbit Systems on drone production.
"At this time, we will not speculate on the causes or circumstances of the incident and will await the official conclusions of the investigation," LPP said.
Police initially said they were investigating whether the fire was intentional and checking public claims of a "concrete group," without naming it.
They later said investigators with security services were probing the incident under a section of the criminal code dealing with terrorism.
"Based on what we know so far, it is likely the incident may be related to a terrorist attack," Interior Minister Lubomir Metnar said.
(Reporting by Jason Hovet; Editing by Mark Porter)
A fire broke out at an industrial complex in Pardubice, which Czech investigators are probing as a potential deliberate attack.
A group protesting against Israeli weapons reportedly claimed responsibility for setting the fire at the facility.
No injuries were reported as a result of the fire, which spread to a second building.
Czech police and security services are investigating the incident as a possible act of terrorism.
Czech defence firm LPP Holding, which partnered with Israeli Elbit Systems on drone production, confirmed the fire at its facility.
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