Walkie-talkie explosions at Lebanon after pager blasts; exploded transceivers brought with Hezbollah pagers; more than 300 injured
BEIRUT: After thousands of pagers exploded en masse during an operation by Israeli spy agency Mossad in Lebanon, thousands of walkie-talkies of Hezbollah members also exploded simultaneously. Nine people were killed. More than 300 people were injured. At least 12 people were killed and 2,800 injured in the pager blasts. Landlines were also reported to have exploded in eastern Lebanon.
In the afternoon, walkie-talkie blasts occurred widespread in southern Lebanon and in the southern suburbs of Beirut. All blasts occoured at Hezbollah centres. Walkie-talkie blast had occurred during the funeral of those killed in the pager explosions also. The walkie-talkies brought in five months ago were the ones that exploded. The walkie-talkies were brought along with the pagers that exploded the other day.
Israeli intelligence agency Mossad had blown up thousands of Hezbollah pagers with a single message, shaking Lebanon. An operation similar to science fiction. Mossad carried out the blasts with explosives on the pagers that came from abroad, which even scanners could not detect. At least 12 people, including two children, were killed. More than 2,800 people were injured.
Mossad infiltrated Hezbollah's own telecommunications network. Pagers were used by abandoning mobile phones to avoid being tracked by enemies. It's easy to attack pagers because they are unencrypted channels and outdated software. Mossad made good use of it.
Single message; blast
- The pagers were manufactured by the BAC company in Hungary using the logo and license of the Taiwanese company Gold Apollo
- Mossad spies identified 5,000 pagers made for Hezbollah at a factory in Hungary
- During the manufacturing process, 20-gram pentaerythritol and remote switches were placed next to the lithium-ion batteries on the pagers.
- Months later, they were sent to Lebanon
- On Tuesday evening, at 3.45 pm, a message appearing to be that of the Hezbollah leadership reached the pagers. The pagers vibrated for 10 seconds.
- The switch on the pager was activated. The explosive detonated.
- Explosions of pagers in people's hands and pockets.
- The series of explosions lasted for about an hour.
Phone explosion in 1996
In 1996, Israeli spies put 15 grams of RDX on the phone of Yahya Ayyash, a Hamas bomb-making expert. It detonated during a phone call with his father.