Hezbollah pagers that exploded were made in Hungary, Taiwanese company says

Hundreds of pagers that exploded in Lebanon and Syria in an apparent operation targeting members of Hezbollah bore the brand of a Taiwanese company, though the firm’s chair told reporters Wednesday that another company in Budapest manufactured the devices. Near-simultaneous detonations of pagers used by members of the Iran-backed Hezbollah terror group killed at least 12 people, including two children, and wounded nearly 3,000 on Tuesday. Taiwanese pager firm Gold Apollo said in a statement that the firm had licensed its AR-924 brand of pager to BAC Consulting KFT, based in Hungary’s capital, and was not involved in the production. LEBANON EXPLOSIONS: HEZBOLLAH APPARENTLY TARGETED AS PAGERS DETONATE, SEVERAL DEAD, THOUSANDS HURT “According to the cooperation agreement, we authorize BAC to use our brand trademark for product sales in designated regions, but the design and manufacturing of the products are solely the responsibility of BAC,” the statement read. Gold Apollo chair Hsu Ching-kuang told reporters Wednesday that his company has had a licensing agreement with BAC for the past three years, though he provided no evidence of the contract. The blasts were concentrated in areas where Hezbollah has a strong presence, particularly a southern Beirut suburb and in the Beqaa region of eastern Lebanon and in Damascus, Lebanese security officials and a Hezbollah official told the Associated Press. Lebanon Health Minister Firas Abiad told reporters Wednesday morning that many of the wounded had severe injuries to the eyes, and others had limbs amputated. Osher Assor, managing partner at Israeli cybersecurity consulting firm Auren, told the Wall Street Journal that such an operation would have taken at least a year to plan. While it appeared that members of Hezbollah possessed many of the pagers that exploded, it was not immediately clear if non-Hezbollah members also carried any of the pagers. Hezbollah, which has pointed the blame at Israel, said in a statement Wednesday morning that it would continue its normal strikes against Israel “as in all the past days” as part of what it describes as a support front for its ally Hamas, and Palestinians in Gaza. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Both U.S. State Department spokesman Matt Miller and White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters during separate daily briefings on Tuesday that the U.S. was not involved in the incident or aware of the incident prior to the explosions. – This Summarize was created by Neural News AI (V1). Source: https://www.foxnews.com/world/hezbollah-pagers-exploded-were-made-hungary-taiwanese-company-says