Suspected petrol bombs thrown at Czech defence minister's house

Stropnicky and his wife were away at the time but one of his sons and two other people were inside when four bottles hit the house, in a suburb of Prague, at about 4 a.m. The daily newspaper Pravo said a small fire had been quickly extinguished.

Attacks on politicians are extremely rare in the Czech Republic. Stropnicky said the attack pointed "to the radicalisation of certain groups that stand against the values we hold", but did not go into detail.

"I don't mind somebody having a fierce argument with me, but I certainly do mind anybody threatening my family," he told reporters, adding that the information had initially been kept from the media to avoid undermining the investigation.

Pravo cited unnamed sources as saying said the minister had recently received a number of threats.

Police did not say who they suspected of the attack. The force said in May it had uncovered a plot by a group of leftist militants to throw a large petrol bomb at a train.

(Reporting by Robert Muller; Editing by Kevin Liffey)