Ministry of Defence: Ammunition from BiH not used in Paris attack

The Ministry of Defence of BiH issued a statement today regarding media reports on the origin of ammunition used in the terrorist act in Paris, reports the Patria News Agency.

The Ministry of Defence of Bosnia and Herzegovina has not sold surplus weapons and ammunition since its formation to date, nor has it issued public or international tenders for the sale of surplus weapons, which would be a legal obligation in case of sale. Therefore, the BiH Ministry of Defence should not be linked to the terrorist act in Paris.

For clarification, we remind that the country to which exports are made must not be under any embargo, and consent for the issuance of an export permit must be given by the BiH Ministry of Security, the BiH Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the BiH Ministry of Defence, each within their jurisdiction. Before issuing the permit, the BiH Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations must be provided with a certificate of the end user. Only after obtaining all these consents does the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations issue an export permit to the authorized exporter. The BiH Ministry of Defence is responsible for issuing permits that are in accordance with the Defence Policy of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Each exporter is obliged, at the end of the year, to justify export permits at the BiH Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations, as it may happen that an issued permit is not realized for any reason, or is only partially realized.

The Mo BiH does not have data on arms sales until 2004, as these were handled by the previous entity ministries of defence.

Therefore, the Ministry of Defence and the Armed Forces of BiH have no connection with the ammunition used in the terrorist attack on the editorial office of the magazine "Charlie Hebdo".

We remind that all arms factories operate freely on the market, including the "Igman" Konjic factory, whose ammunition is mentioned in media reports, it was announced from the Ministry of Defence.