Hezbollah members’ pagers explode in Lebanon: What to know about the explosions and victims
In a major security breach for Hezbollah during the war with Israel, members’ pagers exploded across Lebanon injuring over 1,000 people.
Security sources report that numerous pagers used by Hezbollah members in Lebanon began exploding on Tuesday. More than 1,000 people, including Hezbollah fighters and medics, received injuries to their limbs, face and eyes.
The Iranian ambassador to Lebanon is reportedly among the wounded according to Reuters. An official with the Iran-back terrorist organization, said the attack was the “biggest security breach” in its nearly yearlong fight with Israel which kicked off with the conflict in Gaza last October.
The Lebanese Red Cross dispatched dozens of ambulances to the southern suburbs of Beirut, a Hezbollah stronghold. The devices, the latest model purchased by the Iran-backed group, were acquired in recent months. There are reports that they also detonated in the south of Lebanon.
CCTV footage that has been broadcast shows small handheld devices spontaneously exploding like one next to a grocery store cashier while a person was paying. In other video, an individual standing at a fruit stand appeared to be knocked out by an explosion.
The suspicion by Hezbollah is that Israel intelligence forces were behind the mysterious mass detonations of the radio transmitting devices that began around 3:45 pm local time. The wave of explosions continued for approximately an hour following the first blasts. The Israeli military declined to answer questions put to them by Reuters.
This story is still developing.