Thousands injured in Lebanon in large-scale act of terrorism

Thousands injured in Lebanon in large-scale act of terrorism

The Washington Post reports:

Thousands of people were injured across Lebanon on Tuesday when electronic pagers used by the militant group Hezbollah simultaneously exploded around 3:30 p.m., the group and Lebanese officials said, in what experts said may have been an unprecedented attack by Israel that possibly involved sabotaging the devices before they were delivered.

“Each one who received a new pager, throw it away,” said a voice message that was circulated to Hezbollah members, according to one of the members, who shared it with The Washington Post.

The suspected attack appeared to be the latest salvo in the nearly year-long conflict between Israel and Hezbollah tied to the war in Gaza. It triggered the worst mass casualty event in Lebanon of the war, leaving the country’s health system reeling: At least 2,800 people were injured across the country, mostly with wounds to the face, hands or stomach, Health Minister Firas Abiad said. At least nine people were killed.

Hezbollah blamed Israel for the explosions and vowed to retaliate. The Israeli military declined to comment Tuesday on whether it was responsible for the attack.

Health officials reported bedlam at hospitals as ambulances poured in and facilities were overrun. Casualties were reported in Beirut, the capital; towns in southern Lebanon, near the border with Israel; in the coastal city of Tyre; and in the northern part of the country. The wounded included children and elderly people. [Continue reading…]

The Times of Israel reports:

Israel has scored a major intelligence success by apparently infiltrating a supply chain to cause the simultaneous explosion of hundreds of Hezbollah pagers in a blow for the Lebanese terror group and its Iranian backers, analysts say.

At least nine people were killed and some 2,750 wounded, including the Iranian ambassador to Lebanon, when the pagers exploded in Hezbollah strongholds across the country in an unprecedented simultaneous attack.

With Hezbollah appearing to prefer the use of pagers for internal communications over smartphones for security reasons, analysts said it appeared Israel had corrupted the devices before delivery, allowing them to explode at a specific time.

A source close to Hezbollah, asking not to be identified, told AFP that “the pagers that exploded concern a shipment recently imported by Hezbollah of 1,000 devices,” which appear to have been “sabotaged at [the] source.”

Sky News Arabia quoted sources saying that the Mossad spy agency got hold of Hezbollah’s communication devices before they were handed over to the terror group.

The Israeli spy agency placed a quantity of PETN, a highly explosive material, on the batteries of the devices, and detonated them by raising the temperature of the batteries from afar, the source said. [Continue reading…]

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