Hundreds of people were wounded in Beirut’s suburbs and other parts of Lebanon after their handheld pagers exploded Tuesday, Lebanese state media and security officials said. It wasn’t immediately clear if people were killed.
A senior military intelligence official and an official with a Lebanese group with knowledge of the situation, both of whom spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation, said that pagers carried by Hezbollah members were detonated. The second official said it was believed to be an Israeli attack.
Photos and videos from Beirut’s southern suburbs circulating on social media and in local media showed people lying on the pavement with wounds on their hands or near their pants pockets. Local media reported up to 1,200 people injured in the blasts, although this was unconfirmed.
Other reports suggested that Iran’s Ambassador to Lebanon, Mojtaba Amani, had been injured by one of the exploding devices.
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah previously warned the group’s members not to carry cell phones, saying that they could be used by Israel to track their movements and to carry out targeted strikes.
The group, which is designated as a terror organisation by the likes of the UK, the US, and the EU, had received a new shipment of pagers in the last few days, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Hundreds of Hezbollah fighters are now said to have the devices, which are powered by lithium batteries that can be detonated when overheated in a malware attack.
Mutiple videos have been shared on social media showing sudden explosions across the country, some of which were apparently captured on CCTV in shops.
Lebanon’s Health Ministry has called on all hospitals to be on alert to take in emergency patients and for people who own pagers to get away from them. It also asked health workers to avoid using wireless devices.
Ambulances were seen rushing through the southern suburbs of Beirut as panic broke out in the streets, Reuters reports. Residents said blasts were still happening half an hour after the initial explosions.
It comes amid heightened tensions between Lebanon and Israel, with Lebanese militant group Hezbollah and Israel‘s armed forces (IDF) clashing on an almost daily basis for more than 11 months.
Hundreds have been killed in Lebanon and dozens in Israel, while tens of thousands have been displaced on either side of the border.
The fighting takes place gainst the backdrop of war between Israel and Hamas – an ally of Hezbollah – in Gaza. Israel is yet to comment on the blasts.
The Lebanese prime minister’s office said in a statement it was made aware of “security incidents occurring in a number of regions”.
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