Lebanon bans pagers, walkie-talkies on flights after explosions

Lebanon’s General Directorate of Civil Aviation today banned pagers and walkie-talkies on flights, a day after two waves of device explosions across the country, Anadolu has reported.

At least 32 people were killed and 3,250 others injured on Tuesday and Wednesday in explosions that targeted thousands of wireless communication devices in Lebanon.

The directorate said that it had instructed airlines operating at Beirut’s Rafic Hariri International Airport to inform passengers that pagers and walkie-talkies are prohibited on flights. The ban applies to both checked luggage and carry-on items, it said, warning that any such devices will be confiscated.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Middle East Monitor (@middleeastmonitor)

Lebanese group Hezbollah has accused Israel of being behind the device explosions and vowed retaliation.

There has been no Israeli comment on the device blasts, which came amid an escalation in cross-border warfare between Israel and Hezbollah since the start of Israel’s deadly war against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip last October. Israel has killed nearly 41,300 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, and wounded more than 95,500 others. An estimated 11,000 remain missing, presumed dead, under the rubble of their homes and other civilian infrastructure destroyed by the occupation state.

READ: Israel bombs Lebanon, claims it thwarted assassination plot