The M75 grenade (English: kashikara,
Serbian Latin: kašikara,
Serbian Cyrillic
The Serbian Cyrillic alphabet (, ), also known as the Serbian script, (, ), is a standardized variation of the Cyrillic script used to write the Serbian language. It originated in medieval Serbia and was significantly reformed in the 19th cen ...
: кашикара) is a
Yugoslav hand grenade
A grenade is a small explosive weapon typically thrown by hand (also called hand grenade), but can also refer to a Shell (projectile), shell (explosive projectile) shot from the muzzle of a rifle (as a rifle grenade) or a grenade launcher. A mod ...
, efficient in trenches, forests and bunkers. The grenade consists of a body, an explosive charge and "mouse trap" style fuse mechanism, all contained in a plastic transportation can.
The core contains 3,000 steel balls with a diameter of with an effective killing radius of , and a
casualty radius of . The explosive charge is of
plastic explosive
Plastic explosive is a soft and hand-moldable solid form of explosive material. Within the field of explosives engineering, plastic explosives are also known as putty explosives
or blastics.
Plastic explosives are especially suited for explos ...
. The fuse, named "bušon" in Serbian, has a delay time of 3 to 4.4 seconds. Its name comes from the Turkish word for a spoon, "kašika". In
American English
American English, sometimes called United States English or U.S. English, is the set of variety (linguistics), varieties of the English language native to the United States. English is the Languages of the United States, most widely spoken lang ...
, the lever of the grenade is colloquially known as the "spoon". The M-75 hand grenade was also produced in
Macedonia
Macedonia (, , , ), most commonly refers to:
* North Macedonia, a country in southeastern Europe, known until 2019 as the Republic of Macedonia
* Macedonia (ancient kingdom), a kingdom in Greek antiquity
* Macedonia (Greece), a former administr ...
, where it is designated M-93.
Use by criminal gangs in England, Sweden and Belgium
A shipment of leftover grenades of this type (and the M-93) from the
Yugoslav Wars
The Yugoslav Wars were a series of separate but related#Naimark, Naimark (2003), p. xvii. ethnic conflicts, wars of independence, and Insurgency, insurgencies that took place from 1991 to 2001 in what had been the Socialist Federal Republic of ...
was taken to Sweden and sold for as little as 20
kronor to organised criminals and street gangs, who have been using them in
numerous attacks since 2008 (ongoing as of 2025).
Others were used by criminal families in England, including an attack that
killed two police officers in 2012.
In 2018, two M75 hand grenades were used in
Deurne, Antwerp. The attack is possibly linked to a drug war in Antwerp.
In 2021, one M75 hand grenade was used in
Pakrac, Croatia. Milorad Arsenić, a former member of Serbian paramilitary forces in Croatia attacked three employees of Croatian power company
HEP that came to disconnect his power for unpaid bills.
In 2023, one M75 hand grenade was used in the ethnically-mixed 'Bosniak Neighborhood' in
North Mitrovica
North Mitrovica; or ''Mitrovicë Veriore'' or North Kosovska Mitrovica, is a town and municipality located in Mitrovica District in Kosovo. As of 2015, it has a population of 29,460 inhabitants. It covers an area of .
North Mitrovica is a par ...
,
Kosovo
Kosovo, officially the Republic of Kosovo, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe with International recognition of Kosovo, partial diplomatic recognition. It is bordered by Albania to the southwest, Montenegro to the west, Serbia to the ...
. A car was damaged, in what minister of interior
Xhelal Sveçla claimed to be an attack by criminal structures in reaction to the arrest of 3 ethnic Serbs in the town of
Vushtrri
Vushtrri ( sq-definite, Vushtrria; sr-Cyrl, Вучитрн, ''Vučitrn'') is a List of cities in Kosovo, city and Municipalities of Kosovo, municipality located in the District of Mitrovica, Mitrovica District in Kosovo. According to the 2024 c ...
, suspected of war crimes in the
Kosovo War
The Kosovo War (; sr-Cyrl-Latn, Косовски рат, Kosovski rat) was an armed conflict in Kosovo that lasted from 28 February 1998 until 11 June 1999. It ...
.
The M75 was used during a gang war in Germany's Stuttgart region in 2023. During a funeral of a gang member at the cemetery of Altbach near Esslingen, a member of a rival gang threw one M75 at the mourners. The grenade bounced of a tree branch, throwing it off course, and exploded in a free area, still leaving 15 people injured.
In 2024, an M75 hand grenade exploded at a party in Knin, Croatia, killing a 25-year-old man and injuring four others.
References
External links
BR-M75 Hand Grenade at Military & Police TrainingBR-M75 at CAT-UXO{{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017
Fragmentation grenades
Hand grenades of Yugoslavia
Crime in Sweden
Crime in Manchester