A series of explosions targeting Hezbollah members in Lebanon have left several dead and injured. The attacks appear to have been carried out using pagers rigged with explosives, highlighting concerns about supply chain vulnerabilities.
The Iran-backed militant group blamed Israel for the deadly explosions, which targeted an extraordinary breadth of people and showed signs of being a long-planned operation. How the attack was executed is largely uncertain and investigators have not immediately said how the pagers were detonated.
The Israeli military has declined to comment.Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah previously warned the group’s members not to carry cellphones, saying they could be used by Israel to track the group's movements. As a result, the organization uses pagers to communicate. A Hezbollah official told The Associated Press the exploded devices were from a new brand the group had not used before. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the press, did not identify the brand name or supplier. Nicholas Reese, adjunct instructor at the Center for Global Affairs in New York University’s School of Professional Studies, explains smart phones carry a higher risk for intercepted communications in contrast to the more simple technology of pagers. This type of attack will also force Hezbollah to change their communication strategies, said Reese, who previously worked as an intelligence officer, adding that survivors of Tuesday's explosions are likely to throw away "not just their pagers, but their phones, and leaving their tablets or any other electronic devices.”With little disclosed from investigators so far, multiple theories have emerged Tuesday around how the attack might have been carried out. Several experts who spoke with The Associated Press suggest that the explosions were most likely the result of supply-chain interference.Very small explosive devices may have been built into the pagers prior to their delivery to Hezbollah, and then all remotely triggered simultaneously, possibly with a radio signal. By the time of the attack, “the battery was probably half-explosive and half-actual battery," said Carlos Perez, director of security intelligence at TrustedSec. A former British Army bomb disposal officer explained that an explosive device has five main components: A container, a battery, a triggering device, a detonator and an explosive charge. “A pager has three of those already,” explained the ex-officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he now works as a consultant with clients on the Middle East. “You would only need to add the detonator and the charge.” After security camera footage appeared on social media Tuesday purporting to show one of the pagers explode on a man’s hip in a Lebanese market, two munitions experts also said that the blast appeared to be the result of a tiny explosive device. “Looking at the video, the size of the detonation is similar to that caused by an electric detonator alone or one that incorporates an extremely small, high-explosive charge,” said Sean Moorhouse, a former British Army officer and explosive ordinance disposal expert. This signals involvement of a state actor, Moorhouse said. He adds that Israel’s foreign intelligence agency, the Mossad, is the most obvious suspect to have the resources to carry out such an attack. N.R. Jenzen-Jones, an expert in military arms who is director of the Australian-based Armament Research Services, agreed that the scale and sophistication of the attack “almost certainly points to a state actor,” and that Israel had been accused of carrying out such operations in the past. Last year, AP reported that Iran accused Israel of trying toHow long was this operation? It would take a long time to plan an attack of this scale. The exact specifics are still unknown, but experts who spoke with the AP shared estimates ranging anywhere between several months to two years. The sophistication of the attack suggests that whoever is behind it has been collecting intelligence for a long time, Reese explained. An attack of this caliber requires building the relationships needed to gain physical access to the pagers before they were sold; developing the technology that would be embedded in the devices; and developing sources who can confirm that the targets were carrying the pagers. And it's likely the compromised pagers seemed normal to their users for some time before the attack. Elijah J. Magnier, a Brussels-based veteran and a senior political risk analyst with over 37 years experience in the region, said he has had conversations with members of Hezbollah and survivors of Tuesday's pager attack. He said the pagers were procured more than six months ago. “The pagers functioned perfectly for six months," Magnier said. What triggered the explosion, he said, appeared to be an error message sent to all the devices. Based on his conversations with Hezbollah members, Magnier also said that many pagers didn’t go off, allowing the group to inspect them. They came to the conclusion that between 3 to 5 grams of a highly explosive material were concealed or embedded in the circuitry, he said.Another possibility is that malware could have been inserted into the operating system of the pagers — somehow causing the device batteries to all overload at a specific time, causing them to burst into flame. According to a Hezbollah official and Lebanese security officials, the pagers first heated up and then exploded in the pockets, or the hands, of those carrying them Tuesday afternoon. These pagers run on lithium ion batteries, the Hezboolah official said, claiming the devices exploded as the result of being targeted from an Israeli “security operation," without elaborating further. When overheated, lithium ion batteries can smoke, melt and even catch on fire. Rechargeable lithium batteries are used in consumer products ranging from cellphones and laptops to electric cars. Lithium battery fires can burn up to 590 C . Still, Moorhouse and others noted that images and video footage seen Tuesday more strongly resembled the detonation of small explosive charge, not an overheating battery. “A lithium ion battery fire is one thing, but I’ve never seen one explode like that. It looks like a small explosive charge,” said Alex Plitsas, a weapons expert at the Atlantic Council. Among those pointing to the likelihood of a supply chain attack is Jenzen-Jones, who adds that “such a large-scale operation also raises questions of targeting" — stressing the number of causalities and enormous impact reported so far. “How can the party initiating the explosive be sure that a target’s child, for example, is not playing with the pager at the time it functions?” he said.Hillary Clinton wrote about her first post-2016 election encounter with Melania Trump at the funeral of Rosalynn Carter in her new book released Tuesday.NEW YORK — Sean “Diddy” Combs pleaded not guilty Tuesday to federal sex trafficking and racketeering charges. 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And he did it on air and it destroyed,” Che recalled.Hamilton County officials unveiled the long-awaited renovation plan for Paycor Stadium on Tuesday, as its lease with the Cincinnati Bengals is set to expire in less than two years.Mayors representing Metro Vancouver's 21 municipalities, one electoral area and the Tsawwassen First Nation want voters to send letters to provincial political leaders to drive TransLink funding as a major election issue.Mayors' Council chair Port Coquitlam Mayor Brad West was joined by his peers and several community and business leaders on Tuesday from the annual Union of B.C. Municipalities conference to call on the province's political leaders to provide a detailed plan to fund TransLBALTIMORE — Years after immigrating to the U.S. and settling in the Baltimore area, Maria del Carmen Castellón was working toward a new chapter of her family’s American dream, hoping to expand her successful food truck business into a Salvadoran restaurant.FAA wants to impose more than $630K in fines for SpaceX launch violations Nicole Kidman Was 'Teased' for Being Tall, Hated Her Body Growing Up: 'I Wanted to Be 5'2" and Curvaceous' The Oscar winner admits she wished she looked completely different when she was younger in the new Hulu docuseries 'In Vogue: The 90s' Investors are pouring into this defensive corner of the stock market amid fears of an economic slowdown The the S&P 500's consumer staples sector has risen sharply in the last month as investors play defense amid concerns of an economic slowdown.CARACAS, Venezuela — Venezuela’s government Tuesday announced the arrest of a fourth U.S. citizen in connection with an alleged plot to kill President Nicolás Maduro in which authorities claim the CIA, Spain’s intelligence agency, organized crime groups, sex workers and members of the opposition are involved.Harry Kane scores 4 goals in Bayern's 9-2 rout of Zagreb and breaks a record that Wayne Rooney held MUNICH — Harry Kane broke Wayne Rooney’s record for the most Champions League goals by an English player when the Bayern Munich striker scored four times against Dinamo Zagreb on Tuesday.
Hezbollah Explosion Attack Pagers Supply Chain Interference
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