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Mobile communication devices explode/ 9 Hezbollah fighters are killed, hundreds injured

2024-09-17 21:20:43, Kosova & Bota CNA

Mobile communication devices explode/ 9 Hezbollah fighters are killed, hundreds

Nine people were killed and hundreds injured in the suburbs of Beirut and other parts of Lebanon after hand-held mobile communications devices exploded, according to media reports and security officials.

They were holding 'pagers', small communication devices, different from mobile phones, used to send messages and signals.

A senior military intelligence official and another official with knowledge of the incident, who spoke on condition of anonymity to the Associated Press news agency, said pagers carried by members of the Hezbollah group exploded. The second official said it was believed to be an Israeli attack.

The Associated Press reached out to the Israeli military, which declined to comment.

The semi-official Fars news agency, which is close to Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guards, said in a post on the Telegram network that Mojtaba Amani, Iran's ambassador to Lebanon, suffered superficial wounds and is under medical care in hospital.

In photographs and videos taken in the suburbs south of Beirut, which are circulating on social networks and local media, people can be seen lying on the ground with wounds on their hands.

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah had previously warned members of the group not to carry mobile phones, as he said they could be tracked by the Israelis to watch their movements and launch attacks.

Lebanon's health minister called on all hospitals to be on alert.

Associated Press photographers near the hospitals said emergency rooms were overflowing with patients, most of them with limb wounds, some in serious condition.

The state news agency said hospitals in southern Lebanon, the eastern Bekaa Valley and the southern suburbs of Beirut, all areas where Hezbollah has a strong presence, have appealed for blood donations.

According to this agency, advanced technology was used for the explosion of pagers in these areas, and as a result, dozens of people were injured.

A Hezbollah official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said at least 150 people, including members of the group, had been wounded.

"The enemy (Israel) is responsible for this incident," he said.

According to him, the new 'pagers' devices that the Habollah members were carrying had lithium batteries, which apparently exploded.

Lithium batteries, when overheated, can emit smoke, melt or even catch fire.

Rechargeable lithium batteries are widely used in computers, mobile phones and electric cars. The fire caused by their burning reaches high temperatures, up to 590 degrees Celsius.

The incident occurs at a time when tensions between Lebanon and Israel have increased. The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah and Israeli forces have clashed almost every day since the start of the war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, the latter an ally of Hezbollah./ VOA