Turkiye thwarts delivery of 1,3000 booby-trapped pagers heading to Lebanon

The Turkish intelligence has seized 1,300 booby-trapped pagers intended for Lebanon, identical to those used in the attack in the country in September, Turkiye’s Sabah newspaper reported.

According to the report, a few days after the Mossad bombing of pagers in Lebanon, another 1,300 pagers were seized in Istanbul airport en route to Lebanon.

According to the report, the Turkish Intelligence Organisation (MIT) received information about the pager shipment and began inspecting airports and ports, discovering that the shipment was planned for 27 September.

The reports were part of a shipment brought into Lebanon via complex routes, involving front companies in several countries, including Bulgaria, Hungary, Hong Kong and Taiwan, before passing through Turkiye.

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Authorities monitored the shipment and prevented it from reaching its final destination, as part of regional security cooperation to combat the smuggling of suspicious electronic devices.

Reports indicated that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan raised the issue in a conversation with former Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati last December, informing him of the seizure and destruction of the pagers.

The head of Israel’s Mossad, David Barnea, had previously revealed that the first 500 pager radios had been brought into Lebanon weeks before 7 October 2023.

On 17 September, Israel detonated pagers used by Hezbollah members and civilians. The following day, it detonated ICOM radios, killing a total of 37 people and seriously wounding 2,931.

Barnea said the pager operation was a turning point in the war with Lebanon.

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