How Hezbollah slipped in an explosive device

Thousands of pagers and walkie-talkies belonging to the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah exploded on September 17 and 18. The two series of explosions, less than 24 hours apart, killed at least 37 people and injured thousands.

A shipment of 5,000 pagers and walkie-talkies was shipped to Lebanon earlier this year. The batteries in the walkie-talkies were packed with the highly explosive PETN, a Lebanese source said. Up to 3 grams of explosives were hidden in the pagers for months without being detected.

Hezbollah accused Israel of being behind the attack, and many sources and experts also said that Israel had interfered in the production of the explosive device. Israel has neither confirmed nor denied this information.

Hours before the devices exploded, Hezbollah distributed new pagers to members. In one case, the pagers exploded while still in their boxes.

Hezbollah has long implemented procedures such as checking pagers after they are handed over and periodically reviewing the group’s equipment, including communications gear, to determine whether they have been rigged with explosives or bugged.

Members of the group even carried pagers through airports to see if they would trigger alarms, the source said. Reuters Do not name these airports.

However, the source said it was difficult to detect such explosives “with any equipment or scanner”, and declined to say what type of scanner Hezbollah used.

After the pagers exploded on September 17, Hezbollah assumed that other devices belonging to the group were also rigged with explosives. The group immediately began checking its communications systems, scanning its devices, and investigating its supply chains for pagers. But before this process could be completed, the group’s walkie-talkies exploded on the afternoon of September 18.

Hezbollah believes the attackers decided to detonate the radios because they feared the militants would soon discover them. The death toll from the radio explosion was 25, double that of the pager explosion, possibly due to the larger number of explosives. The explosion also occurred as many Hezbollah members gathered to mourn those killed the day before.

The developments suggest that a Hezbollah unit may have been at fault. The attackers may also have had inside information about the technology the militant group uses to test the devices, according to Middle East Eye.

Military analyst Johnny Khalaf, a retired Lebanese army brigadier general, suggested two scenarios: The equipment was not thoroughly checked because it was purchased from a trusted source, or an insider interfered with the security check process so it went undetected.”

A source close to the militant group told Middle East Eye that Hezbollah suspects “there are many insiders, even in the senior ranks, otherwise this attack would not have been possible”.

A source close to Hezbollah said the order for the communications equipment was made by a businessman with close ties to the group, and the group got it at a “very good price”.

Local media reported that Hezbollah had arrested several people suspected of colluding with Israel. “The interrogation will be carried out by Hezbollah first, after which the investigation committee will hand over the suspects to Lebanese military intelligence and forward them to the judiciary,” a military source said.

Photos from the scene showed that the pager Hezbollah used had the same design and label as a product of Gold Apollo, a company headquartered in Taiwan, while the walkie-talkie had the label of Icom, a communications equipment company headquartered in Japan.

Gold Apollo claims it did not manufacture the pagers, but licensed its Hungarian partner to use its brand to design and manufacture them. The Hungarian company says it did not manufacture them but acted as an intermediary. Hungarian media reports that the deal was actually done by Norta Global Ltd in Bulgaria.

However, Bulgaria said on September 20 that no pagers similar to the model that exploded were produced, imported or exported in Bulgaria. They are still investigating whether the company had any connection to the attacks in Lebanon.

Icom believes the radios that exploded in Lebanon are likely not its own, as the market is flooded with counterfeits, while the company stopped producing the device and battery line 10 years ago.

A security source said Hezbollah had foiled several Israeli plots targeting the group’s foreign-imported equipment, from desk phones to ventilation equipment installed in offices.

“We found some electronic problems, but not with the pagers,” he said. “They fooled us, kudos to the enemy.”