Lebanon: 9 killed, 300 injured as Hezbollah walkie-talkies explode across country, day after pager blasts
Earlier, an apparent Israeli attack targeting pagers used by Hezbollah killed at least 12 and wounded nearly 3,000.
At least nine people were killed and over 300 were wounded after walkie-talkies used by members of Lebanon's armed group Hezbollah and solar equipment exploded in Beirut and multiple regions of the country. The explosions came a day after an apparent Israeli attack targeting pagers used by Hezbollah killed at least 12 and wounded nearly 3,000.
The attacks, which were widely believed to be carried out by Israel targeting Hezbollah, have hiked fears that the two sides' simmering conflict could escalate into all-out war. Speaking to Israeli troops on Wednesday, Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said, “We are at the start of a new phase in the war — it requires courage, determination and perseverance.” He made no mention of the explosions of electronic devices but praised the work of Israel's army and security agencies, saying “the results are very impressive.”
In Wednesday's attacks, several blasts were heard at a funeral in Beirut for three Hezbollah members and a child killed by exploding pagers the day before, according to Associated Press journalists at the scene. An AP photographer in the southern coastal city of Sidon saw a car and a mobile phone shop damaged after devices exploded inside of them. A girl was hurt in the south when a solar energy system blew up, the state news agency reported.
The new blasts hit a country still roiling with confusion and anger after Tuesday's pager bombings, which appeared to be a complex Israeli attack targeting Hezbollah members that caused civilian casualties, too. Tuesday's bombings killed at least 12 people, including two children, and wounded some 2,800 others.
The second wave also deepens concern over the potentially indiscriminate casualties caused in the attacks, in which hundreds of blasts went off wherever the holder of the pager happened to be — in homes, cars, at grocery stores and in cafes, often with family or bystanders nearby.
While the pagers were used by Hezbollah members, there was no guarantee who was holding the device at the time of the blast. Also, many of the casualties were not Hezbollah fighters, but members of the group's extensive civilian operations mainly serving Lebanon's Shiite community. At least two health workers were among those killed Tuesday. Doctors, nurses, paramedics, charity workers, teachers and office administrators work for Hezbollah-linked organisations, and an unknown number had pagers.
(With inputs from PTI/AP)