Sep 18 – Pagers that exploded simultaneously across Lebanon on Tuesday, killing at least nine people and injuring around 2,800, including the Iranian ambassador, reportedly originated from Taiwan, according to international media reports.
The devices, ordered from Taiwanese manufacturer Gold Apollo, were allegedly tampered with to include explosives before arriving in Lebanon, in what officials have described as an unprecedented attack attributed to Israel.
Anonymous American and other officials told the media that Israeli intelligence infiltrated the production process, adding explosive components and a remote triggering mechanism to the pagers without raising suspicion. The pagers had been part of a shipment of 1,000 devices recently imported by Hezbollah, according to an unidentified source.
International news agencies reported that Hezbollah had ordered approximately 3,000 pagers, primarily the AR924 model, from Gold Apollo. Lebanese Health Minister Firass Abiad confirmed that nine people, including a young girl, were killed in the blasts.
He suggested that Israel’s involvement in tampering with the pagers raised the possibility that the third party which sold the devices could have been an “intelligence front” established for this purpose.
Israel has not yet commented on the incident.
