Thousands of members of the Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah as well as civilians have been killed or wounded after wireless communication devices, known as pagers, exploded in different locations across the country on Tuesday, Press TV reports.
The Lebanese health ministry said at least nine people have been killed and 2,800 others wounded in the explosions that were first reported in the southern suburbs of Beirut.
"Patients are being transferred to different governorates in Lebanon as hospitals in southern Lebanon have exceeded their capacity," it stated.
Among those killed are a 9-year-old girl and son of a lawmaker affiliated with Hezbollah, Press TV correspondent in Beirut Mariam Saleh said in a report from the Lebanese capital.
The little girl has been identified as Fatima Jafar Abdullah while the young man is Mahdi Ammar, son of 'Loyalty to the Resistance' bloc MP Ali Ammar.
Iran’s ambassador to Lebanon, Mojtaba Amani, is also among the injured. His wife took to X to confirm his injury in the pager explosion but said his condition was stable.
Saleh said certain people who were carrying pagers noticed them heating up before the explosions took place, adding that Israelis are on a state of high alert, expecting a response from Hezbollah.
Based on preliminary investigation, officials were quoted as saying that the blasts appear to have been caused by a remote cyber attack orchestrated by the Israeli regime amid heightened tensions.
In its latest statement, Hezbollah said after examining all facts and available information about the attacks that they hold the Israeli regime "fully responsible for this criminal aggression that also targeted civilians and led to the martyrdom of several people and the injury of many others."
bd-pratidin/GR
