The Japanese manufacturer of the walkie-talkies that exploded in Beirut and other parts of Lebanon has denied any connection to the incident, saying it stopped manufacturing the particular model for 10 years already.
Lebanon was rocked again when handheld radios allegedly used as the primary communication devices of the militant group Hezbollah blew off just a day after pagers detonated simultaneously, leaving members of the militant groups and other civilians dead and injured.
At least 20 people were killed and 450 injured during the incident. According to reports, the majority of those wounded were attending funeral services for comrades killed by the pager bombs. (Related: Thousands of handheld radios EXPLODE in second wave of Israeli attacks on Lebanon.)
The devices involved were IC-V82 transceivers made by Icom, an Osaka-based telecommunications manufacturer. However, the company confirmed that it has not produced or exported those gadgets and the batteries needed to operate them for a decade now.
"The IC-V82 is a handheld radio that was produced and exported, including to the Middle East, from 2004 to October 2014. It was discontinued about 10 years ago, and since then, it has not been shipped from our company," the Icom statement said. "The production of the batteries needed to operate the main unit has also been discontinued and a hologram seal to distinguish counterfeit products was not attached, so it is not possible to confirm whether the product shipped from our company."
According to the Japanese manufacturer, the radios might have been cheap copies manufactured by an unauthorized third party.
"If it turns out to be counterfeit, then we'll have to investigate how someone created a bomb that looks like our product. If it's genuine, we'll have to trace its distribution to figure out how it ended up there," Icom Director Yoshiki Enomoto told Reuters.
Enomoto said there was no way a bomb could have been integrated into one of their units during production as their process is highly automated and fast-paced.
A representative from Power Group, the sole distributor of Icom in Lebanon, also said the company does not import discontinued models like the IC-V82. BBC, meanwhile, reported that Hezbollah bought the discontinued walkie-talkies about five months ago, but it was unclear who sold them.
Israel's two-day strike in Lebanon kills 560 people, including top Hezbollah commander
The Associated Press meanwhile reported that the recent two-day bombing campaign by Israel in Lebanon has already killed 560 people and top Hezbollah commander Ibrahim Kobeisi. Thousands of people in southern Lebanon as also been fleeing to seek refuge from widening chaos.
"We struggled a lot on the road just to get here," said Issa Baydoun. "We evacuated our homes because Israel is targeting civilians and attacking them."
Meanwhile, during the United Nations General Assembly this week, U.S. President Joe Biden made a plea for a ceasefire. "Full-scale war is not in anyone's interest. Even if a situation has escalated, a diplomatic solution is still possible," he said.
But Lebanon's Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib said Biden's address was "not strong, not promising," adding that the U.S. is the only country "that can make a difference in the Middle East and about Lebanon."
The U.S. is Israel's longtime ally and biggest arms supplier.
IsraelCollapse.com has more stories related to Israel's multi-front war being waged in the Middle East.
Watch the video below where Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said the fatal device attacks in Lebanon were "war crimes or at least a declaration of war."
This video is from the TrendingNews on Brighteon.com.
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