Thousands of pagers detonated within seconds across Lebanon yesterday in a coordinated assault aimed at the US-designated terrorist group Hezbollah. The blasts resulted in at least nine fatalities and injured 2,800 people in a nation engulfed in the Israel-Palestine conflict in its vicinity.
Hezbollah, the political entity governing Lebanon, has accused Israel of orchestrating the attack. Throughout the Gaza war, it backed Hamas and engaged in exchanges of fire along its southern border with Israel in support of the Palestinian group.
No nation or organization has yet taken responsibility for the attack. However, allegations directed at Israel raise significant questions about the capabilities of Mossad, the Israeli intelligence agency known for executing targeted operations on foreign soil.
Pagers are wireless, low-tech communication devices that fell out of favor in the 1990s with the rise of mobile phones. They can show text messages but cannot transmit voice calls. Hezbollah utilizes pagers to evade location tracking by Israel.
The devices involved in yesterday's explosions were equipped with explosives sourced from Taiwan, according to the New York Times. A Taiwanese company, Gold Apollo, had placed the order, and Israeli agents modified the pagers before they reached Lebanon, the US-based newspaper reported, citing unnamed officials.
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