Over 2800 were injured, with multiple victims suffering life-threatening injuries, while at least 9 died as pagers across Lebanon detonated, targeting terror group Hezbollah. The pagers self-detonated in a synchronous fashion straight outta Hollywood fiction. Per Iran’s state media, Mojtaba Amin, the ambassador to Lebanon, was also injured in the attack.
The pager attack occurred at around 3:30 pm in Lebanon (or 6 PM IST). Most of the injuries were on the face, hands, and abdomen. Per an anonymous source, as stated to AFP, dozens of Hezbollah members have been wounded in the southern suburbs of Beirut.
Among the dead were a 10 year old daughter of a Hezbollah operative. Ever since the Gaza war, Hezbollah, which backs Hamas, has directed its members to avoid mobile phones in order to avert security breaches by the Israeli government.The organization is banned by the European Union and the United States.
While initially the buzz was of cyber attacks targeting pages, unverified rumors now claim supply chain poisoning. Allegedly Israel’s Mossad placed explosives in missile data and electrical sockets of 5000 Taiwan-made pagers, breaching the supply chain. The batteries were replaced with remotely detonated explosives.
These devices were purchased by Iran from the international market. The pager model is identified as the Apollo Gold-manufactured AP924, which receives texts but can not be used for calls. Meanwhile, Hezbollah has vowed retaliation against Israel.
Lebanese offic.