Czechs investigate fire after reports of anti-Israel group claiming responsibility

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 toa terrorist attack,” Interior Minister Lubomir Metnar said.

(Reporting by Jason Hovet; Editing by Mark Porter)