Taiwan, Hungary, Japan… Where did Hezbollah’s exploding pagers and walkie-talkies come from? – Firstpost

Lebanon is living in fear, and everyday communication devices have become a source of anxiety. Why? This fear comes after two days of deadly pager and walkie-talkie blasts that have killed at least 32 people and injured another 3,250.

No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack, but Hezbollah, which was the primary target, has blamed Israel for the explosions and vowed revenge. The Jewish people have remained silent, but experts and media reports assume they were responsible.

A day after the second attack on walkie-talkies, questions still remain: How did Israel manipulate the devices, what are Israel’s motives behind the attacks, and what will happen next?

In this explainer, we will explore how these explosive devices—both pagers and walkie-talkies—end up in Hezbollah’s hands.

A Tale of Taiwan and Pagers

Shortly after hundreds of pagers exploded in Lebanon on Tuesday (Sept. 17), all eyes turned to Gold Apollo, an unassuming little company based in a seedy part of Taipei. That’s because the exploding pagers were identified as manufactured by the company. Photos on social media showed the pagers were the Gold Apollo AR924 model, advertised as a compact, waterproof device that uses a lithium-ion battery.

A Lebanese official was also quoted as saying that Hezbollah had ordered 5,000 pagers from Taiwanese company Gold Apollo and it was these new devices that exploded. Other sources said the pagers were brought into the country in the northern hemisphere spring.

Analysts at open-source intelligence firm Bellingcat also concluded that the pagers came from Gold Apollo.

As the news spread like wildfire, journalists stormed Gold Apollo’s office, seeking answers. Founder and CEO Hsu Ching-Kuang and his team offered a number of explanations in the hours that followed.

At first the sales manager said Financial Times that Gold Apollo has been selling to Lebanon for years.

But that changed soon after. Hsu Ching-kuang offered a different explanation at a news conference, telling reporters that the pagers were made by another company that had a license to use its brand. “There is an agent in Europe that we have been working with for three years, and they are the agents for all our products,” Hsu said.

“We are not a big company, but we are a responsible company that takes care of its products,” he added.

A later statement from the company said: “Under the agreement, we authorize BAC to use our trademark to sell the products in certain regions, but the design and manufacturing of the products is performed exclusively by BAC.

“We only grant trademark authorization for the brand and do not participate in the design and production of this product.”

Even though Gold Apollo is trying to deflect blame from the incident, it has left the island nation uncertain about the consequences of being involved in a global conflict. With that in mind, Taiwan’s Ministry of Economic Affairs said Gold Apollo has exported 260,000 pagers from 2022 to August 2024, and none have exploded so far.

“Was this batch of goods actually modified? … Or did another manufacturer produce them and simply mark them with the Apollo brand? This part is still being investigated by the authorities,” the ministry spokesman said. NBC News.

In addition, Taiwan Defense Minister Wellington Koo said the government was closely monitoring the situation. Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Taiwan Cabinet spokesman Lee Hui-chih also reiterated that pagers exported from the island “have no problem exploding.”

Hungary and BAC

Gold Apollo’s Hsu identified another company in Hungary as BAC Consulting. According to Hsu’s statement, he entered into an agreement with BAC almost three years ago. The agreement signed by the two companies said Gold Apollo would sell its pagers to BAC and would also allow BAC to use the Gold Apollo trademark on its products.

BAC Consulting CEO Cristiana Bársony-Arcidiacono confirmed that her company had worked with Gold Apollo. But when asked about the exploding pagers, she said: “I don’t make pagers. I’m just a middleman. I think you misunderstood.”

Later, Hungarian government spokesman Zoltan Kovacs also stepped into the matter, writing on X that BAC is “a commercial intermediary, without any production or operational location in Hungary. It has one manager registered at the given address, and the mentioned devices have never been in Hungary.”

Many note that the message was an attempt by Hungary to deflect responsibility or involvement in the exploding pager incident.

However, New York Times dropped a bombshell. In a new report, US media say BAC Consulting is part of the Israeli front.

Japan and the Case of Exploding Walkie-Talkies

A day after pager explosions rocked Lebanon, two-way radios were detonated. Initial investigations showed that the devices that exploded were branded Icom, a Japanese company.

The company immediately issued a statement saying it was investigating whether the explosive devices were indeed its own or fakes. In the statement, the company said: “This morning, reports appeared in the world media of an explosion of radio equipment with the Icom logo in Lebanon.

“We are currently investigating the facts surrounding this matter. We will post updated information as it becomes available on our website.”

The Japanese company added that production of the IC-V82 model, which most likely exploded, ended in 2014.

The Osaka-based company, which started operations in 1954, also noted that photos of the exploding devices did not have the holographic sticker that Icom typically places on its devices, which could indicate that they are not its property.

Icom is a company known for producing communication receivers that are sold in over 80 countries around the world. The company has branches in the United States, Australia, Germany, Spain and China.

It seems that Icom is convinced that the explosive devices are not theirs. A representative of the American branch of the company said: AP“I can guarantee you these were not our products.”

The Japanese government is also closely monitoring the reports. “We are currently gathering information,” Yoshimasa Hayashi, the chief cabinet secretary, told reporters in Tokyo on Thursday morning.

With information from the agency