Lebanon pager explosions 'an extremely concerning escalation': UN

New York, Sep 18 (IANS) The United Nations has said that pager explosions that killed nine people and wounded 2,800 across Lebanon on Tuesday marked "an extremely concerning escalation" nearly one year into the Gaza war.

"The developments today mark an extremely concerning escalation in what is an already unacceptably volatile context," UN special coordinator for Lebanon Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert said in a statement.

She urged "all concerned actors to refrain from any further action, or bellicose rhetoric, which could trigger a wider conflagration that nobody can afford".

Hennis-Plasschaert "underlines the urgency of restoring calm and calls on all concerned actors to prioritise stability as paramount," the statement said, concluding that "too much is at stake to do anything less".

At least nine people were killed in the attack in Lebanon, officials said. Among those killed was an 10-year-old girl, according to Lebanon's Health Minister, Firass Abiad.

The latest casualty figures by officials include about 2,750 injured, including Iran's ambassador to Beirut, Mojtaba Amani.

Hezbollah fighters in Syria were also injured in the attack, with several reportedly being treated in hospitals in Damascus. Iran's Revolutionary Guards-affiliated Saberin News reported that some guards in Syria had also been killed.

A Hezbollah official said the detonation of the pagers was the "biggest security breach" for the group in nearly a year of conflict with Israel. The blasts appeared to exploit the low-tech pagers that Hezbollah has adopted in order to prevent the targeted assassinations of its members. The pagers were reportedly a new brand.

Hezbollah has vowed to retaliate against Israel. Hezbollah said two of its fighters were among the dead and threatened a "just punishment" for Israel.

"We hold the Israeli enemy fully responsible for this criminal aggression that also targeted civilians," the group said. The son of the Hezbollah MP Ali Ammar reportedly also died in the explosions, as did two sons of other prominent Hezbollah figures.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military on the blasts. The attack took place just hours after Israel announced it was broadening the aims of the war sparked by the October 7 Hamas attacks to include its fight against Hezbollah.

The attack followed months of targeted assassinations by Israel against senior Hezbollah leaders.

Lebanon's Health Ministry put hospitals across the country on "maximum alert" and instructed citizens to distance themselves from wireless communication devices. Hezbollah maintains its own communication network separate from the rest of Lebanon.

It also comes as US officials try to de-escalate tensions between the two sides, and could derail US efforts to prevent Iran from retaliating against Israel for the July bombing in Tehran that killed the Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh.

The US said it "was not aware of this incident in advance".

A US State Department Spokesperson, Matthew Miller, told in a press briefing that the US was not involved and did not know who was responsible. He added that it was "too early to say" how it would affect Gaza ceasefire talks.

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