Pagers, Then Walkie Talkies: How Devices Were Weaponised Against Hezbollah

Twin attacks using communication devices, suspected to have an Israeli hand, have struck fear in the ranks of Hezbollah, the Iran-backed militant group based in Lebanon.

1. At least nine people have been killed and over 100 wounded when hand-held radios or walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah exploded across the south of Lebanon and the group’s strongholds in the country’s capital, Beirut, on Wednesday. 
2. One of the blasts occurred near a funeral organised by Hezbollah for those killed when thousands of pagers exploded across Lebanon on Tuesday. The number of people dead in Tuesday’s explosions has risen to 12, including two children. 
3. The attacks have raised Hezbolah’s tensions with Israel – which it has blamed for the pager explosions – that were already high because of Tel Aviv’s war with Hamas in Gaza, and the group said it had used rockets to attack Israeli artillery positions
4. The coordinated targeting of communication devices used by Hezbollah is being widely seen as an attempt to throw the group in disarray and a way of demonstrating to its members that the attackers can get at them in ways they least expect.