Reports indicate that three people have been killed and hundreds injured.
According to Reuters, citing eyewitnesses and security sources, communication devices, specifically walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah, exploded in the southern suburbs of Beirut. The explosions, which were of limited strength according to international media, occurred at different locations in the suburbs.
Ahora hay una ola de explosiones de walkie talkies en El Líbano. La operación continúa pic.twitter.com/9HmKOpzE3K
— Nacho Montes de Oca (@nachomdeo) September 18, 2024
Walkie-talkies have exploded in Hezbollah’s stronghold in Beirut, as reported by AFP. Hezbollah is said to have purchased these devices five months ago, around the same time as the bombs that exploded yesterday.
One of the explosions occurred during a funeral in the Dahieh area, a southern suburb of Beirut, while people were bidding farewell to four individuals who had died in previous bomb explosions on Tuesday.
Breaking News 🚨
— Ajeet Yadav (@ajeetkumarAT) September 18, 2024
Today's explosions of communication devices across #Lebanon seem to have primarily affected walkie-talkies that were purchased five months ago.#LebanonExplosion pic.twitter.com/0XTklLjxPO
Among those attending the funeral were children, women, and men of all ages. The funeral was just beginning at the time of the explosion.
A Hezbollah source confirmed that the walkie-talkies used by the group were targeted. Lebanon’s state news agency reported that “old bombers” exploded inside homes in the southern suburbs of Beirut and southern Lebanon.
Some of the injured were taken to hospitals in the capital and Baalbek, located in the Bekaa Valley. Another source cited by the Lebanese news agency stated that a bomber exploded inside a car near a cemetery in southern Bekaa.
Earlier, Hezbollah announced that it had launched a rocket attack against an Israeli position following the bomb explosions in Lebanon yesterday.
It is noted that since October, there have been repeated exchanges of fire between Hezbollah and the Israeli army, with Hezbollah firing over 8,000 rockets into northern Israel and the IDF responding with airstrikes.
Wednesday’s explosions in Beirut come just 24 hours after bomb explosions by Hezbollah members in Lebanon, which left at least 9 dead and nearly 2,800 injured. The Lebanese Hezbollah movement had earlier assured that Israel would “face just punishment” following “this criminal attack.”
