World

Radios That Exploded in Lebanon Ceased Production 10 Years Ago - Manufacturer

TOKYO (Sputnik) - Japanese company ICOM, believed to be the manufacturer of the radios that exploded in Lebanon, said the products were discontinued 10 years ago.
Sputnik
"The IC-V82 is a handheld radio that was produced and exported, including to the Middle East, from 2004 to October 2014. It was discontinued about 10 years ago, and since then, it has not been shipped from our company. The production of the batteries needed to operate the main unit has also been discontinued, and a hologram seal to distinguish counterfeit products was not attached," ICOM said in a statement.
It said that it was not possible to confirm whether the product had been shipped from ICOM.
At least 12 people were killed and more than 2,800 injured on Tuesday as a result of the mass detonation of pagers in Lebanon, according to the country's Health Ministry.
According to a number of media outlets, pagers are used by members of the Lebanese Hezbollah movement as a closed communication system, the least susceptible to hacking and wiretapping. It is still unknown what caused the simultaneous detonation of the devices. Hezbollah and the Lebanese authorities blamed Israel for the incident.
World
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A second wave of mass detonations of communications devices, held by Hezbollah members, on Wednesday killed at least 20 people and injured more than 450. Lebanon's Communications Ministry said the ICOM IC-V82 radios that exploded were unlicensed.
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