14 killed, over 450 injured after walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah explode across Lebanon
BEIRUT: A day after a dozen people were killed in a series of deadly pager explosions across Lebanon, hand-held radios used by the armed group Hezbollah detonated late Wednesday afternoon across the country killing 14 people.
"The new wave of walkie-talkie explosions... killed 14 people and wounded more than 450," the ministry said in a statement.
Hand-held radios were purchased by Hezbollah five months ago, at around the same time as the compromised pagers, a security source has now revealed.
A source close to the Iran-backed group said walkie-talkies used by its members exploded in its Beirut stronghold during the funerals of Hezbollah members killed in Tuesday's blasts.
"A number of walkie-talkies exploded in Beirut's southern suburbs," the source said, with Hezbollah-affiliated rescuers confirming devices had exploded inside two cars in the area.
AFPTV footage showed people running for cover when an explosion went off during a funeral for Hezbollah militants in south Beirut on Wednesday afternoon.
It came a day after the simultaneous explosion of hundreds of paging devices used by Hezbollah killed 12 people, including two children, and wounded up to 2,800 others across Lebanon, in an unprecedented attack blamed on Israel.
There was no comment from Israel, which only hours before Tuesday's attacks had announced it was broadening the aims its war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip to include its fight against the Palestinian group's ally Hezbollah.
Hezbollah said Israel was "fully responsible for this criminal aggression" and reiterated it would avenge the attack, while vowing to continue its fight against Israel in support of Hamas in the Gaza war.
Cross-border exchanges with Israeli forces were "ongoing and separate from the difficult reckoning that the criminal enemy must await for its massacre," Hezbollah said.
Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib warned the "blatant assault on Lebanon's sovereignty and security" was a dangerous development that could "signal a wider war".
Hamas accuses Israel, says threatens the security and stability of the region
Palestinian militant group Hamas blamed Israel for a new wave of device explosions in Lebanon Wednesday in which walkie-talkies exploded in Hezbollah strongholds killing 14 people and wounding more than 450.
"We strongly condemn the renewed and ongoing Zionist aggression against the brotherly Lebanese people," Hamas said in a statement, adding that the attack, a day after Hezbollah pagers blew up, killing 12 people and wounding 2,800, "now threatens the security and stability of the region".
'Beyond what can be described': Doctors of horror after pager blasts
Doctors in Lebanon had spoken on Wednesday of horrific eye injuries and finger amputations, a day after Hezbollah paging devices exploded across the country, killing 12 people and wounding up to 2,800.
"The injuries were mainly to the eyes and hands, with finger amputations, shrapnel in the eyes -- some people lost their sight," said doctor Joelle Khadra, who was working in emergency at Beirut's Hotel-Dieu hospital.
Hundreds of wireless paging devices belonging to members of the Iran-backed group exploded simultaneously on Tuesday, hours after Israel said it was broadening the aims of the Gaza war to include its fight against Hamas's Lebanese ally.
Khadra told AFP that Hotel-Dieu, located in the Lebanese capital's Christian-majority Ashrafieh district, treated about 80 injured.
Around 20 "were admitted to intensive care immediately and were put on ventilators to ensure they wouldn't suffocate due to the swelling in their faces", she said.
"The rest are going one after the other to the operating room. Today, we have 55 surgeries," she added, wearing her white doctor's coat over her blue scrubs.
Hezbollah, which has traded near daily cross-border fire with Israeli forces in support of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, has vowed to retaliate for the pager blasts, which it blamed on Israel.
