Czech Officials Investigate Drone Plant Fire as Possible Terror Attack

Czech investigators are probing an overnight fire at an industrial drone complex as a possible deliberate attack, officials said on March 20.

The company, LPP Holding, specializes in drones, unmanned aerial and ground vehicles with autonomous navigation, as well as C4 systems, avionics, and artificial intelligence for face and object recognition.

“We are dealing with all available information. There is a probable connection to a terrorist attack,” Czech Interior Minister Lubomír Metnar wrote in a March 20 post on X.

LPP Holding, based in Pardubice, around 60 miles east of Prague, said on its site on March 20 that a fire broke out at one of its facilities in the early hours of this morning.

“We are pleased that no one was injured,” it said.

“LPP Holding is currently working closely with the relevant authorities of the Czech Republic and is fully supporting the ongoing investigation. At this time, we will not speculate on the causes or circumstances of the incident and will await the official conclusions of the investigation,” it said.

Footage circulating online appears to show a group of masked individuals entering the premises, dousing the site with liquid, and taking documents, all while music plays.

The footage has not been independently verified by The Epoch Times.

A far-left protest group posted on Telegram on March 20, claiming it had set fire to a “key manufacturing hub,” alleging that LPP Holding has links to Israel.

The group, identifying itself as “The Earthquake Faction,” described itself as “an internationalist underground network that targets key sites critical to the Zionist entity.”

The claim of responsibility has not been confirmed by authorities.

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.

In 2023, Israeli defense firm Elbit Systems announced plans to establish a drone technology centre in the Czech Republic in cooperation with LPP.

Bojan Pancevski, chief European political correspondent for The Wall Street Journal, said in a March 20 post on X that the Czech plant “mainly supplied Ukraine” and had “very little to do with Israel.”

Attacks in the UK

In the UK, Elbit Systems, a major supplier to the Ministry of Defence, has been targeted by groups.

Palestine Action is pursuing a vandalism-led strategy to shut down Israeli arms manufacturers in the UK.

In 2024, the activists worked with a climate change group called Shut The System to target 20 Barclays branches, smashing windows and spray-painting buildings red.