Thousands of walkie-talkies, solar panels and fingerprint recognition devices used by Hezbollah fighters have detonated across Lebanon in the past two days, killing 14 and wounding hundreds of people including mourners at a funeral.
The second wave of carnage comes a day after thousands of exploding pagers used by the group left almost 3,000 people injured and a dozen dead, including civilians and children.
Security sources confirmed that hand-held radios were purchased by Hezbollah five months ago, at around the same time as compromised pagers. Lebanese media has also reported that home solar energy systems have blown up in several areas of Beirut.
The ensuing panic has caused terrified residents to tear the batteries from their walkie-talkies and throw devices into the street in fear of more explosions.
In a sign of the alarm caused by the devices, the Lebanese Armed Forces have been carrying out controlled explosions of suspicious items – including bags of rice suspected to be rigged with explosives in a pit of the parking lot at the American University of Beirut Medical Centre.
The attacks amount to the biggest security breach in Hezbollah’s history, with the group and its backers Iran condemning Israel and labelling it ‘mass murder’.
Israel has since declared the start of a ‘new phase’ of war in the Middle East, with officials and experts warning of ‘serious questions’ around what may happen next.
A walkie-talkie that was exploded inside a house, in Baalbek, east Lebanon today