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What is known about the explosive devices that were aimed at Hezbollah?

2024-09-18 22:02:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

What is known about the explosive devices that were aimed at Hezbollah?

Electronic 'pager' messaging devices used by hundreds of members of the Hezbollah militant group exploded almost simultaneously in Lebanon and Syria on Tuesday, killing at least 12, including two children, and injuring thousands, in what appears to be a sophisticated and ranged attack.

A US official said Israel informed Washington on Tuesday after the operation, which used small amounts of explosives hidden in communications equipment, ended. The individual spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly.

The Lebanese government and Iran-backed Hezbollah blamed Israel for the deadly blasts, which targeted large numbers of people and appeared to be a long-planned operation. There are no details regarding the execution of the explosions. The Israeli military declined to comment.

Use of 'pager' communication tools in operation

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah had previously warned members of the group not to carry mobile phones, saying they could be used by Israel to track the group's movements. As a result, Hezbollah uses pagers to communicate.

Unlike cell phones, these devices use other communication waves and are more useful for emergencies. Pager devices helped Hezbollah circumvent possible Israeli surveillance of Lebanon's cellphones.

Smartphones can be more easily tapped than the simple technology that pager devices use, says Nicholas Reese with the Center for Global Affairs at New York University's Faculty of Professional Studies.

This type of attack will force Hezbollah to change its communications strategies, says Mr. Reese, who previously served with intelligence agencies. He says survivors of Tuesday's blasts are now likely to throw away "not just their pagers, but their phones and give up portable electronic devices."

The origin of pager devices

Taiwanese company Gold Apollo said on Wednesday that it had authorized BAC Consulting KFT, based in Budapest, Hungary, to use its trademark to manufacture and sell the AR-924 model of the pager in question. The BAC firm appears to be a shell company.

Hsu Ching-kuang, head of the Taiwanese firm "Gold Apollo", told reporters on Wednesday that he has had a licensing agreement with the firm "BAC" for about three years.

From 2022 to August 2024, the Gold Apollo firm exported 260,000 pager devices and about 40,000 between January and August this year, according to Taiwan's Ministry of Economic Affairs. The ministry said there was no record of direct export of pager devices to Lebanon.

Veteran analyst Elijah J. Magnier, based in Brussels, says he has spoken with members of Hezbollah and survivors of Tuesday's attack. He notes that Hezbollah has been using pager devices since the 2006 war with Israel. But the new pager messaging devices that exploded on Tuesday, he says, were bought six months ago and it is not known how they got to Lebanon.

Until now, there have been various theories about how the explosions took place. Some experts told the Associated Press news agency that infiltration of the supply chain is highly likely.

Experts say very small explosive devices may have been planted in the pager communications devices before they reached Hezbollah. They said they could have been simultaneously activated remotely, perhaps through a wave signal. This confirms the data shared by the US official about explosives hidden in the devices as part of an Israeli operation.

At the time of the explosion, "probably half the battery was explosive," says Carlos Perez, with security firm TrustedSec.

A former British Army bomb disposal specialist says that an explosive device has five main components: the space in which it is placed, the battery, the ignition device, the capsule and the explosive material.

"A 'pager' has three components," said the specialist, who spoke on condition of anonymity, as he currently works as a consultant with clients in the Middle East. "You have to add the capsule and the explosive."

Explosives experts offered their opinions based on footage from explosions at a Lebanese market.

"The force of the explosion appears to be the same as that caused by a single electric capsule, or by the inclusion of a very small amount of high explosive material," says Sean Moorhouse, a former British army officer and expert on the disposal of explosives. explosive devices.

Mr Moorhouse says this shows a state actor is involved. He says that Israeli foreign intelligence, the Mossad, is the most suspected and has sufficient resources to carry out such an action. Israel has a long history of similar operations in the past.

Planning an attack of this scale takes a lot of time. The specific details are still unknown, while experts say that approximately it takes several months to two years to organize such an action.

Mr Reese says the sophisticated attack suggests the masterminds have been collecting data for a long time. An attack of this caliber requires building the relationships necessary to gain physical access to the devices before selling them. The development of the technology that would be inserted into the 'pager' and the sources that would confirm that the targets of the attack were equipped with these means of communication.

Veteran analyst Elijah J. Magnier says that in conversations with contacts in the Hezbollah organization, he learned that before the explosion, the devices began to vibrate incessantly after an erroneous message, forcing users to use both hands to press buttons to prevent camera shake.

Sending the wrong message, says Mr Magnier, not only increased the effect of the explosion, but also ensured the user was "fully engaged with the device" while trying to turn it off.

Mr. Magnier said Hezbollah was investigating the type of explosive material and whether the device was equipped with a GPS system to allow Israel to track the movements of members of the group.





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