Rockets Found in Middle East Should've Been Destroyed by Slovak Firm

Bratislava, November 29 (TASR) – Rockets that were recently found in the Middle East were supposed to be destroyed by Military Repair Company (VOP), a company based in the town of Novaky (Trencin region), SME daily reported on its website on Tuesday.

These rockets were sent to Novaky back in 2005. It could thus be assumed that the Islamic State’s supply route starts in or leads through Slovakia.

The daily was referring to findings by the Conflict Armament Research expert group which, funded by the European Commission, examines ammunition used in war zones in the Middle East. The Czech Investigative Journalism Centre has also pointed to this fact.

Some of the ammo found in Libya and Iraq has the same batch number as those from military storage houses in Slovenia. As many as 132 of these rockets had been sent to Slovakia for decommissioning back in 2005, which was also confirmed by the Slovak Defence Ministry.

The Economy Ministry has also launched an investigation into this. It said that it didn’t approve any licence for exporting the rockets in question.

The ammunition originated in former Yugoslavia. It is therefore possible that such ammo could be stored in multiple former Yugoslav states. The only state that has so far admitted to the possession of these rockets is the aforementioned Slovenia.