Hezbollah in chaos after pager attack

The explosion of thousands of pagers used by Hezbollah fighters, medics and other members sparked panic in the organization, which is known for its discipline and order. Some members threw away their pagers as a series of explosions rocked the Hezbollah-controlled part of Beirut and other parts of Lebanon. Others buried them.

A Hezbollah official said that when the attack began, the group quickly increased its combat readiness in case it could be the opening blow to a larger campaign from Israel, which has repeatedly raised warnings of an escalation in the border conflict between the two sides over the past year.

Hezbollah leaders did not carry these pagers and had to use the internal telephone network to investigate the incident. Families of Hezbollah members had difficulty trying to find their loved ones due to the huge number of injured people being brought to numerous hospitals.

Hezbollah officials described the attack as the most serious security breach in the group's history, since it was founded in 1982 by Iran's Revolutionary Guards to repel Israeli forces that invaded Lebanon that year.

Last week, a Lebanese insider said the organization was preparing for the possibility of Israel stepping up its attacks on Lebanon, based on Israel's "worst case preparations."

Another source with information on Hezbollah's operations said that in the initial stages of Tuesday's attack, the group was panicked but later recovered from the "huge, unforeseen shock".

The source said the attack did not neutralize Hezbollah.

Hezbollah has pledged revenge.

Bodyguard among the injured

Hundreds of gunmen were wounded, mostly in Beirut rather than in villages in southern Lebanon, a Hezbollah official said.

Many of those injured were medical staff, individuals with administrative roles in Hezbollah agencies or their relatives, the official said.

Some people were blinded or had their arms amputated after noticing the pagers making strange noises before they exploded.

“This is a sword through the guts of this organization,” said Mohanad Hage Ali, deputy director of research at the Carnegie Center for Middle East Studies in Beirut.

The attack appeared to have led to a temporary halt in Hezbollah's cross-border attacks on Israel, before resuming on Wednesday, when the group said it had launched missiles in response to several attacks on southern Lebanese villages and in support of Gaza.

Hezbollah's media office could not be contacted for comment.

Among the injured were bodyguards of several senior Hezbollah members, but there were no immediate reports of casualties among the group's leadership. Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah was safe, sources said.

A senior Lebanese security source and another source said Israel had planted explosives in more than 5,000 pagers imported by Hezbollah. Israel has not claimed responsibility. The attack killed at least 12 people, including eight Hezbollah members – six gunmen, a nurse and an engineer.

Lebanon's health minister said about 2,800 people were injured.

Hezbollah is struggling but has fully recovered from the attack and has not been neutralized, a senior Lebanese official said, asking not to be identified due to the sensitivity of the matter.

Nasrallah will speak on Thursday. Sources said the speech was planned to allow the group to better understand the attack before addressing it.

With scores of Hezbollah fighters killed in Israeli air strikes on southern Lebanon on Tuesday, it was the bloodiest day the group has faced since it began firing at Israel nearly a year ago in support of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

Nguyen Quang Minh (according to Reuters)

Source: https://www.nguoiduatin.vn/hezbollah-chim-trong-hon-loan-sau-vu-tan-cong-bang-may-nhan-tin-204240919080724767.htm