Israeli spies planted explosives in thousands of Hezbollah’s pagers before detonating them by sending a coded message, a source has claimed.
Chaos erupted across Lebanon after hundreds of pagers used by Hezbollah terrorists exploded almost simultaneously in a deadly attack that left at least twelve people dead and thousands injured.
Iran-backed Hezbollah blamed Israel for the attack and vowed to deliver “just punishment”.
The blast saw at least twelve people dead and nearly 3,000 injured, including Hezbollah’s terrorists and the Iranian ambassador.
Israel’s Mossad spy agency hid a small amount of explosives inside the pagers ordered by Hezbollah months before Tuesday’s detonations, two sources claimed.
A senior Lebanese security source said the group had ordered 5,000 beepers made by Taiwan-based Gold Apollo, which were brought into the country in the spring.
The pagers been ordered after the group’s leader ordered members to stop using phones in February over fears they could be tracked by Israeli spies.
They said the devices had been modified by Israel’s spy service “at the production level.” They said: “The Mossad injected a board inside of the device that has explosive material that receives a code. “It’s very hard to detect it through any means. Even with any device or scanner.”
They added that 3,000 of the pagers exploded when a coded message was sent to them, simultaneously activating the explosives.
The source identified a photograph of the model of the pager, an AP924, which like other pagers wirelessly receive and display text messages but cannot make telephone calls.
The plot appears to have been in the making for months they said. And another security source said that up to three grams of explosives were hidden in the new pagers and had gone “undetected” by Hezbollah for months.
In response, the Taiwan-based company Gold Apollo said the pagers were manufactured by BAC Consulting KFT based in Budapest which is licensed to use the firm’s brand.
Speaking outside the company’s offices in New Taipei, Gold Apollo founder Hsu Ching-Kuang said the pagers used in the explosion were made by a company in Europe.
“The product was not ours. It was only that it had our brand on it.”
A statement from Gold Apollo reads: “According to the agreement, we authorise BAC to use our brand trademark for production sales in specific regions, but the design and manufacturing of the products are entirely handled by BAC.”
While BAC confirmed to NBC it works with Gold Apollo, Consulting chief executive Cristiana Bársony-Arcidiacono denied any links to the pagers.
“I don’t make the pagers. I am just the intermediate. I think you got it wrong, she said, causing further confusion about where the pagers came from.
A Hezbollah source said the pagers were “brand new” and had not been used by fighters before.
