Israel's Mossad planted explosives in Hezbollah's Taiwan-made pagers: Reports

By Team Asianet Newsable | First Published Sep 18, 2024, 10:20 AM IST

Explosions targeting Hezbollah members using Taiwan-made pagers have raised suspicions of Mossad's involvement. The incident, which resulted in multiple casualties, has sparked an investigation and threats of retaliation against Israel.

Israel's Mossad spy agency planted a small amount of explosives inside 5000 Taiwan-made pagers ordered by Lebanese militant group Hezbollah five months before Tuesday's detonations, multiple reports claimed, citing senior Lebanese security sources.

At least nine people were killed and several more were injured when pagers, wireless communication devices used by hundreds of members of the terrorist organisation Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran, exploded simultaneously in portions of Syria and Lebanon on Tuesday. In Syria, there have been around 100 documented bomb incidents.

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According to a senior Lebanese security source who spoke with news agency Reuters, the explosives and pagers detonated simultaneously when a coded message was delivered to them. "Mossad introduced a board containing explosive material that is coded inside the apparatus. It's rather difficult to find using any method. even with any gadget or scanner," the reports added.

The Iran-backed militant group had ordered 5,000 pagers from Taiwan-based manufacturer Gold Apollo, which were smuggled into the country between April and May. A security source identified the model of one exploded pager as the AP924 variant. Images of the damaged pagers also revealed a design and stickers on the back consistent with those produced by Gold Apollo.

The plot appears to have been many months in the making, according to the sources. The explosive used in each device weighed less than 20 grammes, according to the Qatar-funded Al Jazeera channel, which also cited security sources. The pagers that blew up were imported five months prior.

An investigation is being conducted into how the explosive charge was activated, the source added.

Meanwhile, Hezbollah vowed to retaliate against Israel after accusing it of detonating pagers across Lebanon on Tuesday. The Iran-backed militant group stated that Israel would receive "its fair punishment" for the blasts.

Hezbollah militants have been using pagers as a low-tech means of communication in an attempt to evade Israeli location tracking. The group has been in armed conflict with Israel since Hamas's October 7 attack.

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