Lebanon | Hezbollah’s radio phones exploded: At least 14 dead, more than 450 wounded – This is what is known about the events

in Lebanon on Tuesday and Wednesday apparently hundreds of communication devices used by the Shia Islamist extremist organization Hezbollah exploded simultaneously.

On Tuesday, Hizbullah’s paging devices, i.e. devices used to send messages, exploded around the country. On Wednesday, Hezbollah’s radio phones exploded in the same way.

HS compiled in this article what is known about the attacks as of Wednesday.

Radio phones exploded on Wednesday

of Lebanon according to the authorities, at least 14 people died and more than 450 were injured in the explosions of radio phones, Reuters and AFP news agencies report. Many of the injuries of the wounded are in the hands and stomach area, a security source tells Reuters.

There were explosions at least in the eastern and southern parts of Lebanon and in the southern residential areas of the capital Beirut.

One of the explosions occurred at a funeral organized by Hezbollah, which was held on Tuesday for a member of the organization, a paramedic and a 12-year-old child who died, The New York Times reports.

At the funeral was described by the US media as an eyewitness for CNN the chaos caused by the explosion.

According to the witness, the man whose device had exploded was covered in blood and his hands were missing.

The series of explosions was also heard in a Beirut suburb, said its resident Mortada Smaoui For The New York Times. The picture he took shows flames and black smoke rising from the apartment building.

According to the Lebanese rescue service, fires broke out in homes, cars and shops in several parts of the country, The New York Times reports.

Hezbollah had bought the walkie-talkies five months ago, around the same time as the pagers that exploded on Tuesday.

STT says that according to Wednesday evening’s information, no Finns have been injured in Lebanon. There are approximately 50 Finns who have filed a travel declaration and 200 Finnish UNIFIL peacekeepers in the country.

In the past, search engines exploded

Series of events began when an estimated hundreds of Hezbollah pagers exploded simultaneously on Tuesday. At least 12 people died in the explosions, in addition to which around 2,800 people were injured. Two of the dead were children.

According to investigations carried out by Lebanon, the pagers exploded because they had been fitted with explosives.

“The data shows that the devices were pre-programmed to explode and contained an explosive substance next to the battery,” the official, commenting anonymously, tells Reuters.

of the UN the security council plans to hold a meeting on friday because of the explosions, news agencies reported on wednesday.

Secretary General of the UN António Guterres expressed concern about device explosions in Lebanon and Syria, according to his spokesperson in X. Guterres urged all parties to exercise great self-control so that the situation does not worsen.

Israel blamed for the attacks

US media according to which the Israeli intelligence service Mossad would be behind the attack.

At least Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas have also blamed Israel for the attacks.

According to the Reuters news agency, the Israeli intelligence service Mossad had installed explosives in 5,000 paging devices during their production phase. The equipment would have been delivered to Lebanon at the beginning of the year.

However, according to the paging device manufacturer, Gold Apollo of Taiwan, the devices are not manufactured or sold by them, but the paging devices in question were manufactured by Hungarian BAC Consulting.

According to the company and the Hungarian government, BAC Consulting would only have been an intermediary, and the equipment would never have been in Hungary. According to the Hungarian newspaper Telex, the equipment was actually purchased and delivered by a company operating in Bulgaria. The Telex information has not been confirmed by the authorities of any country.

Israel: a new phase in the war

Israel has not officially commented on the series of explosions. The country’s defense minister Yoav Gallant however, commented on Wednesday that the focus of the war would be shifting from Gaza to the north, i.e. to Lebanon. This is reported by the news agency AFP.

“We are at the beginning of a new phase of the war – – it requires courage, determination and perseverance from us.”

Hezbollah, on the other hand, has vowed to avenge the attacks on Israel.