Updated

Sep 18, 2024, 12:13 AM

Published

Sep 17, 2024, 09:36 PM

BEIRUT – Lebanon’s Hezbollah said on Sept 17 that a spree of simultaneous detonations of pagers used by the group killed two of its fighters and one girl, and wounded over 1,000, without directly accusing Israel of being behind the operation.

A Hezbollah official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the detonation of the pagers was the “biggest security breach” the group has been subjected to in nearly a year of war with Israel.

Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah have been engaged in cross-border warfare since the Gaza war erupted last October, the worst such escalation in years.

Iran’s Mehr news agency said the Iranian ambassador to Lebanon, Mr Mojtaba Amani, was injured by one of the blasts.

A journalist saw ambulances rushing through the southern suburbs of the capital Beirut, a Hezbollah stronghold, amid widespread panic.

A security source said devices were also exploding in the south of Lebanon.

At Mount Lebanon hospital, a reporter saw motorcycles rushing to the emergency room, where people, with their hands bloodied, were screaming in pain.

The head of the Nabatieh public hospital in the south of the country, Dr Hassan Wazni, said around 40 wounded people were being treated at his facility. The wounds included injuries to the face, eyes and limbs, he said.

The wave of explosions lasted around an hour after the initial detonations, which took place at about 3.45pm local time (8.45pm in Singapore). It was not immediately clear how the devices were detonated.

Lebanese internal security forces said a number of wireless communication devices were detonated in Lebanon, especially in Beirut’s southern suburbs, leading to injuries.

Groups of people huddled at the entrance of buildings to check on people they knew who may have been wounded.

Regional broadcasters carried CCTV footage that showed what appeared to be a small handheld device, placed next to a grocery store cashier where an individual was paying, spontaneously exploding.

In another piece of footage, an explosion appeared to knock out someone standing at a fruit stand in a market area.

Lebanon’s crisis operations centre, which is run by the Health Ministry, asked all medical workers to head to their respective hospitals to help cope with the large number of wounded coming in for urgent care.

It said healthcare workers should not use pagers.

The Lebanese Red Cross said more than 50 ambulances and 300 emergency medical staff were dispatched to assist in the evacuation of victims.

Hezbollah fired missiles at Israel immediately after the Oct 7 attack by Hamas gunmen on Israel. Hezbollah and Israel have been exchanging fire constantly ever since while avoiding a major escalation as war rages in Gaza to the south.

Tens of thousands of people have been displaced from towns and villages on both sides of the border by the hostilities. REUTERS