At least 14 members of the Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah in Syria were injured today as a result of explosions from their portable pagers, adding to hundreds of similar cases in Lebanon.
The information about the detonation of pagers in Syria, released by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the conflict in the country, comes on the same day that thousands of simultaneous detonations caused at least nine deaths and around 2,800 injuries in Lebanon, 200 of them seriously.
A source close to Hezbollah confirmed to Agence France Presse (AFP) that members of the pro-Iranian group deployed in Syria, where they were on a mission to support the Damascus regime, were injured, although without specifying the number.
The Lebanese Foreign Ministry attributed the explosions to an "Israeli cyberattack, in which a large number of pagers were detonated", and revealed that it is preparing a complaint to the UN Security Council.
"This deliberate Israeli escalation coincides with its threats to expand the war to Lebanon and its uncompromising stance, calling for more bloodshed, destruction and sabotage," Beirut's diplomatic service said in a statement.
In the same vein, Hezbollah said in a statement that Israel is "fully responsible" for "this criminal aggression" and that it will receive its "just punishment."
"After examining all the facts, current data and available information about the malicious attack that occurred this afternoon, we consider the Israeli enemy fully responsible for this criminal aggression that also targeted civilians and killed several people," Hezbollah said in the statement.
Among the injured is Iran's ambassador to Lebanon, Mojtaba Amani, according to Tehran state television, but his injuries are minor.
Contacted by several international news agencies, the Israeli authorities did not comment on today's events in Lebanon.
It is not yet clear how the devices used in Lebanon were rigged to explode.
A Hezbollah official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told the Associated Press that new models of portable pagers used by the Shiite group first overheated and then exploded.
Lebanon's Telecommunications Minister Johanny Corn said the pagers that exploded were part of a shipment that "recently arrived" in the country.
Speaking to reporters after a Council of Ministers meeting, the minister said he had not yet gathered enough information about the incident, but he also said the batteries in the pagers overheated and that some people managed to get away from the devices before they exploded.
"Maybe they were activated remotely, but we don't know how," Corn added, adding that it is most likely that the pagers were brought into Lebanon for this purpose.
The simultaneous explosions occurred mainly in areas of the south of the country and in the suburbs of Beirut controlled by the armed movement, which has been engaged in intense crossfire with Israel for more than eleven months.
According to the Health Ministry, most of the victims suffered injuries "to the face, hands, stomach and even eyes".
Given the large number of injured, the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health called on all hospitals in the affected areas to activate the "maximum alert" level and prepare to deal with an "urgent emergency health need".
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