37 killed in two days of Lebanon exploding devices: new toll

BEIRUT: Lebanon’s Health Minister Firass Abiad said 37 people were killed and more than 3,500 wounded in a new toll after hand-held devices used by Hezbollah members exploded across Lebanon, in attacks blamed on Israel.

Abiad said 25 people were killed on Wednesday and 12 on Tuesday, updating an earlier toll of 32 dead overall.

Hand-held radios used by armed group Hezbollah detonated across Lebanon’s south in the country’s deadliest day since cross-border fighting erupted between the fighters and Israel nearly a year ago.

In the second wave of device explosions in as many days, 20 people died and more than 450 were wounded on Wednesday in Hezbollah strongholds in Lebanon, officials earlier said.

A source close to Hezbollah said walkie-talkies used by its members blew up in its Beirut stronghold, with state media reporting similar blasts in south and east Lebanon.

They came a day after the simultaneous explosion of hundreds of paging devices used by Hezbollah killed 12 people, including two children, and wounded up to 2,800 others across Lebanon, in an unprecedented attack blamed on Israel.

There was no comment from Israel. The White House warned all sides against “an escalation of any kind”.