Thousands of Hezbollah’s handheld radios explode in second wave of remote-detonated attacks on terror group
A second wave of blasts rocked Hezbollah on Wednesday as thousands of radios and other devices used by the terror group were detonated across Lebanon, security sources and witnesses said.
Additional explosions were reported throughout the capital of Beirut and in the country’s south following Tuesday’s massive security breach that caused Hezbollah pagers to explode, killing at least 12 people and injuring another 2,800.
Some thousands of personal walkie-talkie radios were targeted in Wednesday’s operation, sources told Axios reporter Barak Ravid, which were all ordered from the terror group five months ago, around the same time as the deadly pagers.
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Thousands Injured in Series of Pager Explosions Across Lebanon, Officials Say
Thousands of people across Lebanon were reported injured as their handheld pagers exploded on Sept. 17, Lebanese state media and security officials have said.
By Tuesday evening local time, Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported that some 2,800 people were injured in the pager blasts and eight more were killed, including a child. The National News Agency reported that most people injured in the mass pager explosions sustained injuries to their hands.
Lebanon’s Health Ministry called on hospitals throughout the country to be ready to take in emergency patients and advised people who use pagers to get away from the electronic devices.
The exact reason for the rash of exploding pagers is unclear, but many members of Hezbollah—which is designated a terrorist organization by the United States and Israel—appear to have been injured in the blasts.
Hezbollah leaders shared a statement through one of their affiliated press agencies on Tuesday, saying that members of various Hezbollah-aligned military units and political institutions were injured in these pager blasts.
Among those reported killed on Tuesday was Mahdi Ammar, the son of a Hezbollah-affiliated member of the Lebanese Parliament named Ali Ammar.
The Epoch Times could not immediately confirm who had been injured in the pager blasts.
Hezbollah has clashed with Israeli forces across the Lebanon–Israel border for months, in a skirmish that has shown signs of escalating into a wider conflict.
In a Tuesday statement, Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati and his council of ministers described the pager explosions as an act of criminal Israeli aggression and a serious violation of Lebanon’s sovereignty. Mikati said he also reached out to Ammar on Tuesday to express condolences for the death of his son.
The Israel Defense Forces declined a request for comment from The Epoch Times about the pager explosions occurring across Lebanon on Tuesday.
The recent cyber-physical attacks in Lebanon, involving exploding pagers and walkie-talkies, heralds a new age of remote assassinations.
Israel just conducted the most spectacular cyber-physical twin sabotage in history.
In the first such attack, at 3:30 pm on Wednesday Sept 17, thousands of encrypted pagers carried by Hezbollah operatives across Lebanon, Syria and Iraq exploded simultaneously, killing at least a dozen individuals, including two children at the time of writing. A day later, hundreds of walkie-talkies used by the militia exploded at the same time, and they were apparently potent enough to set fire to an apartment and a car. More than a dozen individuals were reportedly killed in the second incident.
More than 3,000 individuals were reportedly wounded by both attacks. This figure probably includes those injured in Syria and Iraq.
Just how were these audacious attacks executed? According to preliminary reports, the Mossad had intercepted a new shipment of Hezbollah-bound pagers about five months ago, and duly planted nearly 20 gm of PETN, a highly explosive material, on its lithium ion batteries along with malware that would cause heat surges upon activation. The pagers and walkie-talkies were activated simultaneously — on consecutive days — to ensure that it would be the owners, i.e., Hezbollah operatives who would be the ones picking them up. This would ensure maximum casualties. Some of them however threw away their devices upon sensing an unusual heat surge.
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