Day after pager blasts, walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah detonate across Lebanon
Hand-held radios, or walkie-talkies, used by Hezbollah detonated late Wednesday across southern Lebanon and the southern suburbs of Beirut, according to Reuters, a day after thousands of pagers belonging to the Iran-backed group exploded throughout the country.
More than 100 have been injured in a wave of walkie-talkie blasts in Lebanon, reported AFP quoting the government.
The explosions occurred as Hezbollah held a funeral for members killed the previous day.
The pager blasts claimed at least 12 lives, including two children, and injured nearly 3,000 people, Lebanese health minister Firass Abiad said.
Hezbollah responded on Wednesday by launching a rocket attack on Israeli artillery positions in southern Lebanon, its first direct strike on its longtime adversary since the pager detonations.
The explosions on Tuesday, which targeted Hezbollah members and reportedly wounded Iran’s envoy to Beirut, are believed to have been orchestrated by Israel’s Mossad spy agency. According to Lebanese security sources, explosives were planted inside pagers imported by Hezbollah months before the attack. Israel has not commented on the blasts.
Videos from hospitals showed injured Hezbollah fighters and civilians, with some suffering facial wounds, missing fingers, and severe injuries around their hips where pagers were likely worn.
Gold Apollo, a Taiwanese company accused of manufacturing the compromised pagers, denied responsibility, saying the devices were produced under license by a firm based in Budapest, Hungary.
The pager explosions have further stoked tensions in a region already on edge following weeks of escalating cross-border skirmishes between Hezbollah and Israel. These clashes have increased in intensity since the Gaza war began last October, with many fearing they could lead to a broader Middle East conflict involving the United States and Iran.
Hezbollah, which acts as Iran’s most powerful proxy in the region, has vowed to continue its support for Hamas in Gaza. In a statement, the group warned that Israel should expect further retaliation for the “massacre” caused by the pager detonations.
What are pagers?
A pager – a small, wireless communication device that was widely used before the advent of mobile phones – allows users to receive short messages or alerts, typically in the form of a phone number to call back or a brief text message. Pagers, which became popular in the 1980s and 1990s, work by receiving signals through radio frequencies.