Lebanon: 8 Killed, Thousands Wounded In Simultaneous Explosion Of Pagers, Minister Says

(RFE/RL) — At least eight people were killed and 2,750 were wounded when pagers exploded simultaneously in Lebanon, the health minister said on September 17 after the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group said two of its members and a girl were among those killed in the “mysterious” explosions.

Health Minister Firass Abiad said 200 of the injuries were critical, and Iran’s ambassador in Beirut was among those injured, Iranian media reported.

Hezbollah said that a number of pagers used by its members were detonated in the “simultaneous” explosions.

Mojtaba Amani, Iran’s ambassador in Beirut, was injured, Iranian media reported. The Fars news agency, which is close to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, quoted an unidentified informed source as saying that Amani suffered a “superficial injury” as a result of a pager explosion.

The news channel of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Mehr news agency also reported that Amani was injured.

The pagers that exploded were the latest models of the devices that Hezbollah imported into the country in recent month, Reuters reported, citing three unidentified sources.

Reports from Lebanon indicate that “hundreds” of members of the Lebanese Hezbollah group, including fighters and aid workers, were injured in the explosion of the pagers in southern Lebanon and its suburbs.

A member of the group, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters that the explosions were the “largest security infiltration” Hezbollah had faced in its conflict with Israel over the past year.

Other news agencies also reported that a number of members of the group were injured after pager devices exploded.

In a statement, the Lebanese Health Ministry said that hundreds of injured people had arrived at hospitals as a result of the explosions. The ministry called on all citizens who have pagers to immediately discard them. The statement also called on all hospitals to be put on high alert.

The explosions come as the Israeli cabinet announced that it was expanding its war objectives and the focus of its almost yearlong campaign against the extremist group Hamas, which has been designated a terrorist organization by the United States and European Union, in Gaza to confront Hezbollah on its northern border with Lebanon.

The announcement coincided with the return of U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken to the region to try to revive cease-fire talks on the Israeli-Hamas war.

While the focus of the war has been on Gaza, exchanges of fire between Israeli forces and Hezbollah, Hamas’s ally in Lebanon, have killed hundreds of people, mostly militants in Lebanon and dozens of civilians and soldiers in Israel, and caused tens of thousands of people on both sides of the border to flee.

Israel’s announcement comes a day after Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said that “military action” was the only way left for Israel’s northern communities to return to their homes.

Following this decision, Hezbollah warned of the consequences of a large-scale attack in Lebanon.