Two Weapons Used in Paris Terror Attacks Were Made in Serbia

The manager of a weapons factory in Serbia confirmed that at least two of the firearms used by terrorists in the deadly attacks in Paris were produced by this factory in the 1990s. Milojko Brzaković, the CEO of the Zastava-Oružije arms factory in Kragujevac, Serbia, told Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty on November 27 that the Serbian Ministry of Interior had requested the factory to identify the production location of these weapons as part of an international investigation into the Paris attacks. Mr. Brzaković stated that investigators are searching for the original source of two Zastava M70 rifles, which are a modified version of the Soviet-made Kalashnikov and have been the official weapon of the Yugoslav armed forces since the 1970s. He added that Serbian government officials had the serial numbers of the weapons used in the Paris attacks. The German newspaper Bild reported on November 24 that German police had arrested a man suspected of selling four firearms to the perpetrators of the Paris terrorist attacks. According to Bild's report, these four automatic rifles included two Chinese-made Kalashnikovs and two Zastava rifles from former Yugoslavia and present-day Serbia, which were sold by the accused on November 7 via the internet to a buyer who appeared to be of Arab descent. Stuttgart prosecutors confirmed on November 27 that a man had been arrested on arms trafficking charges but declined to comment on Bild's report linking it to the Paris terrorist attacks. ISIS-affiliated operatives targeted several cafes, a concert hall, and a football stadium in the Paris attacks, resulting in approximately 130 deaths and several hundred injuries.