Taiwan says it did not make pagers that exploded in Lebanon
Taiwan’s Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau says there was no evidence that Taiwanese manufacturers were involved in the pagers which exploded in Lebanon in September in a deadly blow to Iran-backed Hezbollah.
Taiwanese company Gold Apollo has not in recent years produced the AR-924 pager model, but they were produced by a company called Frontier Group Entity outside of Taiwan, the bureau said in a statement.
Taipei prosecutors said Gold Apollo, however, had authorised the company to use the Apollo trademark.
“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 prosecutors said in the statement.
“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.”
Netanyahu approved pager attacks against Hezbollah, spokesman says
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu approved the pager attacks that dealt a deadly blow to the Iran-backed Lebanese armed group Hezbollah in September, said Omer Dostri, spokesperson for his office.
The Israeli military at first declined to respond to questions about the detonations.
On September 17, thousands of pagers simultaneously exploded in the southern suburbs of Beirut and areas in Lebanon, in most cases after the devices beeped, indicating an incoming message. A Hezbollah official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the incident was the “biggest security breach” for the group in nearly a year of conflict with Israel.
The pager attack, and a second on the following day that activated weaponised walkie-talkies, killed 39 people and wounded more than 3,400.
