Wave of exploding pagers in Lebanon, Syria leaves fatalities, thousands injured

• Hundreds of handheld pagers exploded nearly simultaneously across Lebanon and in parts of Syria.
• Officials pointed the finger at Israel in what appeared to be a sophisticated, remote attack.
• Lebanon’s health minister said at least 11 people died and 2750 were wounded.

Beirut: Hundreds of handheld pagers exploded near-simultaneously across Lebanon and in parts of Syria on Tuesday, killing at least 11 people, including members of the militant group Hezbollah and a girl, and wounding the Iranian ambassador, government and Hezbollah officials said.

Officials pointed the finger at Israel in what appeared to be a sophisticated, remote attack that wounded more than 2700 people at a time of rising tensions across the Lebanon border. The Israeli military declined to comment.

A Hezbollah official who spoke on condition of anonymity told The Associated Press that the new brand of handheld pagers used by the group first heated up, then exploded, killing at least two of its members and wounding others.

Lebanon’s health minister, Firas Abiad, said at least eight people were killed and 2750 wounded – 200 of them critically. A separate Reuters report put the death toll at 11 so far.

“Witnesses reported smoke coming from people’s pockets, followed by small blasts that sounded like fireworks or gunshots,” The New York Times reported. “Amateur footage broadcast on Lebanese television showed chaotic scenes at hospitals, as wounded patients with mangled hands and mutilated faces sought treatment.”

Dr Abiad said many of the victims suffered injuries to their faces, particularly the eyes, and to their hands and stomachs, The New York Times reported. He also said an eight-year-old girl had died in the apparent attack, he said.

The blasts were relatively contained, according to footage reviewed by Reuters. In two separate clips from the CCTV footage of supermarkets, the blasts appeared to only wound the person wearing the pager or closest to it.

Footage shot at hospitals and shared on social media appeared to show individuals with injuries of varying degrees, including to the face, missing fingers, and gaping wounds at the hip where the pager was likely worn.

The blasts did not appear to cause major damage or start any fires.

Iranian state-run IRNA news agency said the country’s ambassador, Mojtaba Amani, was superficially wounded by an exploding pager and being treated at a hospital.

Photos and videos from Beirut’s southern suburbs circulating on social media and in local media showed people lying on the pavement with wounds on their hands or near their pants pockets.

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah previously warned the group’s members not to carry mobile phones, saying that they could be used by Israel to track their movements and to carry out targeted strikes.

Lebanon’s Health Ministry called on all hospitals to be on alert to take in emergency patients and for people who own pagers to distance themselves from the devices. It also asked health workers to avoid using wireless devices.

AP photographers at area hospitals said the emergency rooms were overloaded with patients, many of them with injuries to their limbs, some in serious condition.

The state-run National News Agency said hospitals in southern Lebanon, the eastern Bekaa Valley and Beirut’s southern suburbs – all areas where Hezbollah has a strong presence – had called on people to donate blood of all types.

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

The Hezbollah official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the media said the explosions were the result of “a security operation that targeted the devices”.

“The enemy (Israel) stands behind this security incident,” the official said, without elaborating. He added that the new pagers that Hezbollah members were carrying had lithium batteries that apparently exploded.

Overheated lithium batteries can smoke, melt and even catch on fire. Rechargeable lithium batteries are used in consumer products ranging from cellphones and laptops to electric cars. Lithium battery fires can burn up at temperatures of up to 590 degrees.

Images of destroyed pagers analysed by Reuters showed a format and stickers on the back consistent with devices made by Gold Apollo, a Taiwan-based pager manufacturer.

Hezbollah fighters had begun using pagers as a low-tech means to try and prevent Israeli tracking of their locations, two sources familiar with the group’s operations told Reuters this year.

Three security sources told Reuters that the pagers that detonated were the latest model brought in by Hezbollah in recent months.

Iran-backed Hezbollah said it was carrying out a “security and scientific investigation” into the causes of the blasts and said Israel would receive “its fair punishment”.

Diplomatic and security sources speculated that the explosions could have been caused by the devices’ batteries detonating, possibly through overheating. Some experts speculated that Israel had infiltrated the supply chain for Hezbollah’s pagers.

Experts were mystified by the explosions but several who spoke to Reuters said they doubted the battery alone would have been enough to cause the blasts.

Heightened tensions

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 more than 11 months against the backdrop of war between Israel and Hezbollah ally Hamas in Gaza.

The clashes have killed hundreds in Lebanon and dozens in Israel and displaced tens of thousands on both sides of the border.

On Tuesday, Israel said that halting Hezbollah’s attacks in the north to allow residents to return to their homes is now an official war goal.

Israel has killed Hamas militants in the past with booby-trapped cellphones and it’s widely believed to have been behind the Stuxnet computer virus attack on Iran’s nuclear program in 2010.