2,750 People Have Been Injured And Eight Killed In Lebanon After Hundreds Pagers Exploded At The Same Time
Lebanon’s health minister said at least eight people were killed while another 2,750 people were injured, including 200 who are in critical condition.
What appears to be a sophisticated cyber attack on Hezbollah’s communication pagers has injured at least 2,750 people and killed eight others, including a girl in Lebanon.
At about 3:30 pm local time on Tuesday, Sep. 17, pagers used by Hezbollah members simultaneously exploded across Lebanon.
Videos shared on social media showed the devices suddenly exploding, injuring people who were carrying them and those around them, causing chaos.
Lebanon’s health minister said at least eight people were killed while another 2,750 people were injured, including 200 who are in critical condition.
A Hezbollah official told AP that the group’s handheld pagers “first heated up, then exploded”, adding that the blasts killed at least two of its members and a girl.
Iran’s state-run news agency reported that the Iranian ambassador to Lebanon, Mojtaba Amani, was also injured in the attack.
AP photographers reported that hospitals were overloaded with patients, with many suffering injuries to their limbs.
The cause of the explosion is still unclear, and Hezbollah has said it is investigating the incident, with one Hezbollah official telling Reuters it was the “biggest security breach” it had experienced since it began clashing with Israel after Israel began its war on Gaza on Oct. 7.
The Hezbollah official who spoke to AP said the explosions were the result of “a security operation that targeted the devices.”
“The enemy (Israel) stands behind this security incident,” the official said, without giving details.
The Israeli military has declined to comment on the incident to multiple outlets including AP and Reuters.
Al Jazeera reported that Hezbollah’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, had called on his fighters to stop using smartphones and switch to pagers a few months ago to stop Israel from infiltrating the devices.
This attack comes after Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced earlier the same day that Israel was expanding its official goals for its war on Gaza.
Netanyahu said that Israel now also seeks to allow Israelis who have fled areas near the Lebanese border to return to their homes.
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