More details of the shocking pager blasts that shocked the Lebanon-based Hezbollah group have come to light. Israel’s Mossad is said to have executed the sophisticated operation although Tel Aviv has not claimed responsibility. Over 3,000 people were hurt and at least 12 were killed on Tuesday when pagers used by Hezbollah members across the country exploded.
While Hezbollah imported thousands of pagers hoping to evade Israeli surveillance, Mossad used the same to land a critical blow to the Iran-backed organisation. The details of the operation were elaborated by a New York Times report quoting several intelligence sources linked to the players involved in the conflict.
The AR-924 pagers that exploded across Lebanon on Tuesday were manufactured and sold by Hungarian firm BAC Consulting KFT. Taiwanese firm Gold Apollo had authorized the use of its trademarked branding on the pagers manufactured and sold by BAC in certain regions.
Following the blast, the CEO and founder of Gold Apollo Hsu Ching-kuan claimed that BAC had used a Middle Eastern bank account to transfer funds. This raised questions as to why a company headquartered in Europe’s Budapest would use a Middle Eastern bank account for the said transactions.
Another point made by CEO Hus was that the chips found in the exploded devices were not the ones used by Gold Apollo.
Shell companies for explosive pager production
Putting these doubts into context, three intelligence officers aware of the operation reportedly told NYT that Mossad-backed shell companies were operational to manufacture the pagers. BAC Consulting KFT was one of the three firms created to mask the real identities of Israeli intelligence officers tasked with the making of pagers for Hezbollah.
Even before Hezbollah’s Hassan Nasrallah wanted to expand pager usage, Israel had started taking steps to establish a shell company that would pose as an international pager producer, NYT said. While manufacturing the explosive devices, BAC also ensured that it made ordinary pagers for other clients.
Explosive-laced batteries: Trick to blast
But how did they explode? Israel powered the pagers with a few ounces of an explosive compound that was concealed within the pagers. The news report identified this source as batteries laced with the explosive PETN.
The pagers began shipping to Lebanon in the summer of 2022 but the production increased following Hezbollah’s decision to avoid mobile phones.
On Tuesday, the concerned personnel were given the order to activate the pagers. Three different officials told the media that Israel triggered the blasts by sending a message in Arabic. It would have appeared as one from Hezbollah’s senior leadership but was the “beep” to activate the blasts.
