Deadly Blast Rocks Hezbollah: Communications Device Explosion Claims Rising Death Toll
- On Friday, Bulgarian authorities denied any link between Bulgaria and the pager bombing in Lebanon, which killed and injured thousands of Hezbollah fighters and civilians.
- The Bulgarian Security Service stated that none of the pagers used in the Lebanon attacks were imported, exported, or manufactured in Bulgaria.
- Bulgarian authorities had opened an investigation into the possibility of an organization linked to the sale of pager devices to Hezbollah, which exploded in a coordinated attack.
Pager Bombing in Lebanon: Investigation and Denials
On Friday, Bulgarian authorities denied any link between Bulgaria and the pager bombing in Lebanon, which killed and injured thousands of Hezbollah fighters and civilians.
The Bulgarian Security Service stated that none of the pagers used in the Lebanon attacks were imported, exported, or manufactured in Bulgaria.
Bulgarian authorities had opened an investigation into the possibility of an organization linked to the sale of pager devices to Hezbollah, which exploded in a coordinated attack.
Taiwan’s Involvement
Representatives of two Taiwanese organizations were questioned as part of an investigation into the source of pager devices in the possession of Lebanese Hezbollah members.
The New York Times confirmed that the pagers that exploded were made by the Taiwanese company Gold Apollo and booby-trapped by Israel.
However, Gold Apollo director Hu Cheng Kuang denied that the pagers were their product.
Hungary’s Response
A Hungarian government spokesman stated that BAC, the Hungarian partner of Gold Apollo, “is a commercial intermediary and has no production or operating sites in Hungary.”
Japan’s Involvement
Japanese company Icom said that it has stopped making models of the radios that exploded in Lebanon about ten years ago.
The company explained that the IC-V82 model was produced and exported to various regions, including the Middle East, from 2004 to October 2014.
Explosions in Lebanon
In a second wave of explosions affecting radio equipment in Lebanon, some 30 people were killed and more than 450 wounded on Wednesday in a Hezbollah stronghold.
Israel’s Alleged Involvement
A senior Lebanese security source and another source told Reuters that the Israeli intelligence agency (Mossad) planted small amounts of explosives in 5,000 Taiwanese-made pagers at the request of Lebanon’s Hezbollah group.
The details reveal an unprecedented security breach by Hezbollah that led to the detonation of thousands of devices across Lebanon.
Hezbollah has vowed to respond to Israel, whose military has declined to comment on the explosion.