Multiple pagers explode in Lebanon and Syria: What we know about the attack

Civil Defense first-responders carry a man who was wounded after his handheld pager exploded/ AP

In a seemingly sophisticated, remote attack, pagers used by scores of Hezbollah members exploded simultaneously in Lebanon and Syria on Tuesday killing at least nine, including an 8-year-old girl and injuring thousands more. According to an Associated Press report, the Iran-backed militant group has accused Israel of the deadly explosions which gave signs of being a long-planned operation.

Authorities are yet to ascertain how the attack was executed and did not reveal how were the pagers detonated, the AP report further stated.

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Here's what we know about the attack:

Why were pagers used in the Pager attack?

Reportedly, Hezbollah began using pagers to communicate after organisation leader Hassan Nasrallah previously warned the members to not carry cell phones claiming they could be used by Israel to track the group's movements. One of the Hezbollah officials told the AP that the devices--which exploded in the Pager attack--were from a brand new group which were never used before. However, the official did not identify the brand or the supplier.

Nicholas Reese, adjunct instructor at the Center for Global Affairs in New York University's School of Professional Studies, told AP that smartphones have a higher risk for intercepted communications in contrast to pagers. He stated that the Pager attack might force Hezbollah to change its communication strategies.

How could sabotage cause these pagers to explode?

According to several analysts, the explosions were most likely caused by supply chain tampering. Prior to transmission to Hezbollah, relatively small explosive devices may have been put into the pagers and then remotely ignited at the same time, maybe via a radio signal. According to a former British Army bomb disposal officer, an explosive device contains five main components, three of which are already present on a pager, the AP report stated.

How long was this operation?

Reportedly, experts predicted that planning such an attack would take several months to two years. The sophistication of the attack shows that whoever is responsible has spent a long period gathering intelligence, cultivating relationships to acquire physical access to the pagers, developing technology, and establishing sources to corroborate the targets.

What triggered the explosion?

According to Elijah J Magnier, a Brussels-based veteran and top political risk analyst, the pagers worked flawlessly for six months before to the attack. What caused the explosion looked to be an error message delivered to all of the devices. Many pagers did not go off, allowing Hezbollah to check them and determine that 3 to 5 grams of extremely explosive substance were buried or incorporated in the circuitry, the AP report added.