Guns Without Borders: Slovak Pistols Reach Yemeni Terror Groups via Czechia
Collaboration: Tomáš Madleňák (ICJK)
Illustration: Shutterstock 2026-01-06
Collaboration: Tomáš Madleňák (ICJK)
Illustration: Shutterstock 2026-01-06
Slovak pistols manufactured by the company Grand Power appeared in the Yemeni capital shortly after the company began producing them. Along with other European weapons, these pistols made their way into a country that has been embroiled in armed conflict and serious humanitarian crisis for more than a decade. The ARIJ editorial team, which monitors events in Arab countries, found that Slovak pistols were transported via the Czech Republic. A joint investigation by Investigace.cz and the Investigative Center of Ján Kuciak (ICJK).
Yemeni arms dealer Ashraf Munef advertised the Slovak pistols alongside American Glocks and Italian Berettas on his Facebook page. He trades in the capital city of Sana’a, which is controlled by the Houthis – one of the parties to the civil war that has been raging in the country since 2014. The United States, Canada, and other countries consider the Houthis a terrorist organization.
The supply of military equipment to Yemen is a violation of international law and treaties. In the Czech Republic, companies must have a license from the Ministry of Industry and Trade to export weapons. This includes a declaration of where the weapons are going, i.e., the so-called end user. The fact that weapons end up in a country where military equipment is not allowed to be imported points to insufficient control of both the final destination and potential resellers.
“Among other things, the export license requires a declaration from the end user (EUC) or an international import certificate issued by the relevant authority of the importing country. In addition, post-licensing control conditions may be specified when granting a license or permit,” said David Hluštík, spokesperson for the Ministry of Industry and Trade, in response to our questions about the case. Any checks at the destination are then carried out in cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the specific embassy.
According to Martina Heranová, head of the Department of Security Studies at CEVRO University, individual states must ensure that weapons do not reach countries under international sanctions by issuing export licenses. “Exports must also be prevented in the case of arms exports to third countries that are not under sanctions if there is a real risk that they could be re-exported to sanctioned countries,” she explained to our colleagues at ICJK.
Pistols from Facebook
In any case, trader Ashraf Munef had no problem advertising weapons on Facebook. And his business is still operating. When ARIJ journalists asked him about the availability of Slovak pistols under the pretext of being interested in them, the trader confirmed that the company has smugglers who can deliver the weapons to Sanaa, Yemen’s capital.
The X-Calibur MK23 pistol is manufactured by the Slovak company Grand Power | Source: Facebook Grand Power
The X-Calibur MK23 pistol offered by the Yemeni dealer is manufactured by the Slovak company Grand Power. However, according to ARIJ journalists, the company has no history of business relations with Yemen. Journalists also found that the Slovak pistols were supplied by the Czech company Kalibrgun. In April 2023, two hundred X-Calibur Gold 9 mm pistols, one of which had the serial number K102358, were shipped to Saudi Arabia, specifically to the company Arabian Hunter.
Grand Power CEO Jaroslav Kuracina told investigace.cz that all goods exported by his company to the Czech Kalibrgun had been duly licensed by both the Czech and Slovak authorities and that the purpose of the transaction was re-export to Saudi Arabia. “We did not know about the trade between the Saudis and Yemen.”
The Saudi Arabian company Arabian Hunter, a part of the Ben Humaid Company, is one of the largest importers and sellers of hunting and shooting equipment. On its website, it lists eight verified brands that “reflect a tradition of quality, innovation, and trust.” One of them is the Czech company Kalibrgun. ARIJ journalists obtained a document from 2022 stating that Arabian Hunter imported 320 different firearms from Grand Power through the Czech company Kalibrgun.
The owner of the parent company, Ben Humaid Company, is the son of its founder, Nawaf Bandar bin Nayef bin Humaid, who also serves as chairman of the board of the Saudi-Czech Chamber of Commerce.
“Our customers are hunters, sport shooters, and air gun enthusiasts who demand the absolute accuracy and reliability that our products provide,” writes Kalibrgun, founded in 2005 in Moscow, which has a factory in Prague. Until March 2022, Kalibrgun had a Russian owner, but it is now owned by Richard Janoušek. In an interview with Hard Air Magazine, Janoušek said that “in twenty years, they have not received a single complaint from customers in Saudi Arabia” about the quality of the goods supplied. “At the same time, the number of deliveries to this region exceeds 50,000 rifles.”
The fact that the weapons ended up in Yemen is a violation of the 2014 UN Arms Trade Treaty, which, among other things, prohibits the delivery of weapons to anyone other than the end user. The supply of weapons to Yemen also violates an EU directive that prohibits exports to countries where their use would contribute to armed conflict. ARIJ journalists also obtained a commercial contract that clearly states that the transport of weapons or trade in weapons outside Saudi Arabia is prohibited unless authorized by the authorities of the country from which the weapons supplier originates.
“In the case you describe, the Slovak company Grand Power defends itself by saying that it exported the weapons to the Czech Republic, a European Union member state, and that it was only from there that these weapons were to be exported outside the EU. The responsibility therefore lies with the Czech licensing authorities, which had to grant the Czech company Kalibrgun an export license to Saudi Arabia,” Heranová, head of the Department of Security Studies, told ICJK.
According to ICJK findings, Grand Power weapons also ended up in Russia despite sanctions. The company denied having anything to do with this. Kuracina confirmed that one of the shipments—Stribog submachine guns—was sold to a Czech company. However, we were unable to determine whether it was Kalibrgun.
According to Jaroslav Kuracina, Kalibrgun came up with the proposal to supply weapons to Saudi Arabia. After being asked why a leading manufacturer and supplier of air rifles was exporting Slovak pistols to Saudi Arabia, Kalibrgun did not respond to further questions before the article was published.
The Czech version of this article was published on Investigace cz.
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A Czech journalist, Zuzana Šotová has worked for the Czech Center for Investigative Journalism since 2020.
Tomáš Madleňák is a Slovak journalist who has worked for the Investigative Center of Ján Kuciak since 2020. He is based in Bratislava.