Eight Folks Killed, 2,700+ Wounded After Pagers Explode In Lebanon, Syria

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BEIRUT (AP) — Tons of of handheld pagers exploded close to concurrently throughout Lebanon and in components of Syria on Tuesday, killing a minimum of eight individuals, together with members of the militant group Hezbollah and a lady, and wounding the Iranian ambassador, authorities and Hezbollah officers stated.

Officers pointed the finger at Israel in what gave the impression to be a complicated, distant assault that wounded greater than 2,700 individuals at a time of rising tensions throughout the Lebanon border. The Israeli army declined to remark.

A Hezbollah official who spoke on situation of anonymity informed The Related Press that the brand new model of handheld pagers utilized by the group first heated up, then exploded, killing a minimum of two of its members and wounding others.

Lebanon’s well being minister, Firas Abiad, stated a minimum of eight individuals have been killed and a couple of,750 wounded — 200 of them critically.

Iranian state-run IRNA information company stated that the nation’s ambassador, Mojtaba Amani, was superficially wounded by an exploding pager and was being handled at a hospital.

BREAKING by way of Reuters

Tons of of members of Hezbollah have been critically wounded on Tuesday when the pagers they use to speak exploded.

Right here is one video of one of many pager explosions. pic.twitter.com/UDepHvkkEe

— Yashar Ali 🐘 (@yashar) September 17, 2024

Photographs and movies from Beirut’s southern suburbs circulating on social media and in native media confirmed individuals mendacity on the pavement with wounds on their fingers or close to their pants pockets.

Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah beforehand warned the group’s members to not carry cellphones, saying that they might be utilized by Israel to trace their actions and to hold out focused strikes.

Lebanon’s Health Ministry known as on all hospitals to be on alert to soak up emergency sufferers and for individuals who personal pagers to get away from them. It additionally requested well being employees to keep away from utilizing wi-fi gadgets.

AP photographers at space hospitals stated the emergency rooms have been overloaded with sufferers, a lot of them with accidents to their limbs, some in critical situation.

Cops examine a automotive inside which a hand-held pager exploded, Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photograph/Hussein Malla)

The state-run Nationwide Information Company stated hospitals in southern Lebanon, the jap Bekaa Valley and Beirut’s southern suburbs — all areas the place Hezbollah has a robust presence — had known as on individuals to donate blood of every type.

The information company reported that in Beirut’s southern suburbs and different areas “the handheld pagers system was detonated using advanced technology, and dozens of injuries were reported.”

The Hezbollah official who spoke on situation of anonymity as a result of he was not licensed to talk to the media stated the explosions have been the results of “a security operation that targeted the devices.”

“The enemy (Israel) stands behind this security incident,” the official stated, with out elaborating. He added that the brand new pagers that Hezbollah members have been carrying had lithium batteries that apparently exploded.

Lithium batteries, when overheated, can smoke, soften and even catch on fireplace. Rechargeable lithium batteries are utilized in client merchandise starting from cellphones and laptops to electrical automobiles. Lithium battery fires can burn as much as 590 C (1,100 F).

A police officer inspects a car in which a hand-held pager exploded in Beirut, Lebanon on Tuesday.
A police officer inspects a automotive by which a hand-held pager exploded in Beirut, Lebanon on Tuesday.

The incident comes at a time of heightened tensions between Lebanon and Israel. The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah and Israeli forces have been clashing near-daily for greater than 11 months towards the backdrop of struggle between Israel and Hezbollah ally Hamas in Gaza.

The clashes have killed tons of in Lebanon and dozens in Israel and displaced tens of 1000’s on each side of the border. On Tuesday, Israel stated that halting Hezbollah’s assaults within the north to permit residents to return to their houses is now an official struggle objective.

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Israel has killed Hamas militants up to now with booby trapped cellphones and it’s extensively believed to have been behind the Stuxnet laptop virus assault on Iran’s nuclear program in 2010.

Abby Sewell and Kareem Chehayeb in Beirut, and Josef Federman, in Jerusalem, contributed to this report.

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Take into account supporting HuffPost beginning at $2 to assist us present free, high quality journalism that places individuals first.

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Thanks on your previous contribution to HuffPost. We’re sincerely grateful for readers such as you who assist us be sure that we will maintain our journalism free for everybody.

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