At least 20 killed as second wave of device explosions hit Lebanon

People gather as smoke rises from a mobile shop in Sidon, Lebanon. (Photo/Reuters)

At least 20 people have been killed and more than 450 others injured when communications devices reportedly used by Hezbollah exploded across the country's south and in the southern suburbs of Beirut, the Lebanese Health Ministry said.

"The wave of enemy [Israel] explosions that targeted walkie talkies... killed 20 people and wounded more than 450," the ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.

Lebanese state media reported that wireless devices exploded in the hands of users in different parts of the country.

Quoting an unnamed security source and a witness, Reuters said the communication devices that exploded were hand-held radios and were different to pagers that exploded on Tuesday.

The Lebanese state media said the devices were Icom radios.

Funeral targeted

At least one of the blasts heard took place near a funeral organised by Hezbollah for those killed the previous day when thousands of pagers used by the group detonated across the country.

The hand-held radios were purchased by Hezbollah five months, a security source told Reuters, around same time as pagers.

United Nations Secretary-General chief Antonio Guterres was "deeply alarmed" by the emerging reports of a large number of communication devices' explosions across Lebanon.

"The secretary-general urges all concerned actors to exercise maximum restraint to avert any further escalation," his spokesman, Stephane Dujarric, said in a statement.

Dujarric also urged parties "to recommit to the full implementation of Security Council Resolution 1701", referring to the one that ended the 2006 war between Hezbollah and Israel.

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Source: TRT