Nine killed, thousands, including Iranian envoy wounded in Lebanon pager blasts – VIDEO
Nine people were killed and 2,750 wounded, including Iran's ambassador to Lebanon, after pagers used by Hezbollah members exploded across Lebanon in a suspected Israeli attack.
400 of the casualties were in critical condition, advisor to Lebanon’s health minister Bassem Ghanem said, in an apparent major blow to the Iran-backed group which is set to ratchet up already flaring regional tensions, News.Az reports, citing foreign media.Iran’s ambassador to Lebanon Mojtaba Amani was among the wounded but suffered non-life-threatening injuries, Iran’s state-run news outlets said. Unconfirmed reports in Tehran said his eyes were "severely injured" in the attack.
#Iran's #Ambassador to #Lebanon lost an eye in a #PagerAttack explosion, and his other eye was seriously injured. pic.twitter.com/jaEWA4Zdkg
— News.Az (@news_az) September 18, 2024
Hezbollah, which has been locked in escalating cross-border combat with its southern neighbor for almost a year, blamed Israel for the attack and vowed retaliation.
"We hold the Israeli enemy fully responsible for this criminal aggression ... This treacherous and criminal enemy will certainly receive its just punishment for this sinful aggression", the Iranian-backed group said in a statement.
The attack was a result of a joint operation between Israel’s Mossad, and the Israeli military, CNN reported Tuesday. Israel placed explosive material in a batch of Taiwanese-made pagers which were imported into Lebanon and destined for Hezbollah, the New York Times reported, citing American and other officials briefed on the operation.
"Over 3,000 pagers were ordered from the Gold Apollo company in Taiwan... Hezbollah distributed the pagers to their members throughout Lebanon, with some reaching Hezbollah allies in Iran and Syria," The New York Times reported citing officials. "Israel’s attack affected the pagers that were switched on and receiving messages."
Israel has not yet commented on any role in the incident but has repeatedly assassinated adversaries in combat zones and beyond in the past.
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