The Japanese company Icom and Taiwanese Gold Apollo, Both little known even in their countries, they are at the center of investigations to determine the origin of the walkie talkies and beepers used in the wave of explosions in Lebanon against the Shiite group Hezbollah.
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Specialized in technology sectors from decades past, these companies have jumped to the front line after They were credited with the communication devices used in the explosions on Tuesday and Wednesday in several Hezbollah-controlled areas of Lebanon, which left 37 dead and around 3,000 wounded.
This is the version of both companies regarding the devices used in Lebanon.
What Icom says about the walkie-talkies that exploded on Wednesday
Japanese telecommunications company Icom said on Thursday that it “cannot confirm” at this time whether its walkie-talkie models were used in the explosions that affected members of the Shiite militia Hezbollah.
The Osaka-based company pointed out the possibility that the devices in question were counterfeits of its models. or devices that were discontinued a decade ago and to which modified batteries were added.
Icom announced on Thursday that it was investigating “information gathered by international media” that indicated that Portable transceiver devices bearing its logo had exploded in Lebanon the day before, in a second wave of simultaneous explosions of wireless communications devices.
The Icom devices in question involved in the explosions are model IC-V82 walkie-talkies, of which about 160,000 units were produced and sold both in Japan and abroad, including the Middle East, between 2005 and 2014, the firm said in a second statement published Thursday.
The devices were discontinued a decade ago and Icom’s overseas branches and subsidiaries have not released new versions of them since. Icom also stopped producing and selling the batteries used in the handheld radios.
The Japanese telecommunications company only sells its products abroad through official stores and applies strict export controls under Japanese regulations, Icom added.
All of its radio transmission equipment is produced in Japan and complies with international safety standards for the sector, according to the firm, which added that it does not use parts from other manufacturers in its products.
Likewise, the company’s director, Yoshiki Enomoto, explained that Some of the circulating images of the alleged Icom devices that exploded in Lebanon show what could be unapproved batteries that have been modified to explode.
The head of the firm also pointed out that “it is not possible to determine” the distribution channels of its products, or if the employees in Lebanon were indeed from the firm, without checking their serial numbers.
The Japanese government, for its part, said it is aware of the above-mentioned information “and is gathering details on the matter,” according to a statement made on Thursday by the Japanese government’s spokesman, Yoshimasa Hayashi, at a press conference.
What does the company that makes the beepers that exploded on Tuesday say?
Founded in October 1995, specializing in the manufacture of pagers, transmitters and telemetry control devices and headquartered in the northern city of New Taipei City, Taiwanese Gold Apollo also came into the spotlight after its logo appeared on several of the beepers that exploded Tuesday afternoon in Lebanon.
The official version of the company, with 40 workers and chaired by Hsu Ching-kuang, barely known on the island until now, is that The company responsible for producing the equipment (model AR-924) that would have been involved in the explosion is a Budapest-based firm, BAC Consulting, which would have the necessary license to use its brand and manufacture these devices.
However, the Hungarian company denied any involvement in the design or manufacture of the pagers. And the spotlight shifted on Thursday to Norta Global Ltd, a Bulgarian-based firm that, according to information from the Hungarian news portal Telex, was responsible for importing the devices from Taiwan.
The Taiwanese government said there are no records of direct exports of beepers to Lebanon by Gold Apollo. -which still makes the AR-924 model, according to its website- and whose batteries are said to lack sufficient power to cause explosions, while experts do not rule out the possibility that the devices were booby-trapped at some point in the supply chain.
In any case, the Shilin District Prosecutor’s Office (north of Taipei) summoned the president of Gold Apollo and other company officials on Thursday, questioning them for hours about the manufacturing process of the pagers to clarify whether a crime has been committed.
The Defense Ministry also said Taiwan does not share intelligence with Israel and said it would not “speculate” about who made the explosives or how they were used, sticking to Gold Apollo’s version.
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