Prague, Sept 15 (CTK) – People linked to terrorist groups have attempted to buy outdoor equipment for fights in the Czech Republic and a person who was shot and wounded in fighting has been treated in the country, Czech National Centre against Organised Crime (NCOZ) chief Michal Mazanek said yesterday.
Security experts have also identified individual cases of abuse of the Czech asylum system by people suspected of terrorism and transfer of terrorist fighters across Czech territory, Mazanek said at an international conference on protection of soft targets yesterday.
Jiri Dreksler, from the NCOZ’s terrorism and extremism section, told CTK that outdoor equipment worth dozens of thousands of crowns was to be purchased for traditional places of fighting.
Individuals or small groups attempted to buy the equipment.
“We directly know where the equipment was heading for and for what purpose,” he said.
Police officers do not know whether these people bought similar items even earlier before security forces gained information about the purchase.
As far as the person treated in the Czech Republic after being wounded in fighting is concerned, Dreksler told CTK the information is classified.
“We have not reflected it in criminal proceedings, we have only provided it for the foreign partner. It was a shot wound that was provisionally treated on the spot and completely healed here,” he said.
The person’s life was not threatened on arrival in the Czech Republic, he added.
Security forces have also monitored cases of Czech travel document abuse. This is a permanent problem, Dreksler said, adding that passports of most EU member states are being abused.
“They are either forged or modified to enable these people to travel to the EU territory or depart it in peace,” he added.
The Interior Ministry hosted yesterday a conference focusing on the protection of soft targets, or places where numbers of people gather, against terrorism.
Mazanek said at the conference that the Czech Republic tends to be considered a transit country and a place where logistic support is secured for subjects linked to terrorism.
At the same time, nevertheless, the Czech Republic may also become “an interesting target of an attack” in the future, regarding its participation in the anti-IS coalition, its membership of the EU and NATO and its pro-Israeli and pro-U.S. policies, Mazanek said.
Interior Minister Milan Chovanec (Social Democrats, CSSD) emphasised the need to protect soft targets.
For several weeks now, a special phone line has been in operation to help big events’ organisers and shopping centres’ owners prepare measures against possible attacks, Chovanec said.
In addition, the police will intensify their exercises focusing on tackling terrorist threats, including insane shooters’ attacks, Chovanec said.
Several speakers from the USA and Israel addressed the conference. Some criticised the gaps and shortcomings in the mutual sharing of information and called for an improvement in this respect.
According to the speakers, soft targets are becoming more and more important for terrorists.
If terrorists reached weapons of mass destruction, they would not hesitate to use them, the experts said.
An opinion was voiced that the USA may have to think about the danger of a big attack that has been prepared for several years now.
($1=24.083 crowns)
