At least nine people have been killed and over 2,750 others, including Hezbollah militants and medics, have been injured when their paging devices exploded across Lebanon, media and security officials say.
A Hezbollah official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told The Associated Press that members of the group were wounded in different parts of Lebanon and Syria when their handheld pagers exploded on Tuesday.
The official accused Israel of detonating the pagers, adding that it was the "biggest security breach" the group had suffered in nearly a year of war with Tel Aviv.
Two Hezbollah militants, including the son of a Hezbollah parliament member, have been killed by the explosions, two security sources told Reuters news agency.
In addition, a young girl was also killed in northeastern Lebanon’s Baalbek District, according to Lebanese media.
The reports name her as 9-year-old Fatima Jaafar Abdullah, daughter of a Hezbollah member.
In addition, Iran's ambassador to Beirut was wounded in an explosion but his injuries were not critical, state media reported.
"Iranian ambassador to Lebanon Mojtaba Amani was injured in a pager explosion," state television said, adding that he was "conscious and in no danger".
The Lebanese Health Ministry, for its part, urged all citizens who own pager communication devices to immediately dispose of them.
The incident was the first of its kind since Israel and Hezbollah began trading near-daily fire after Tel Aviv launched its war on Gaza in October last year.
'Latest models'
Journalists and photographers in Beirut's southern suburbs saw ambulances rushing injured people to hospitals in the area.
The Lebanese Red Cross said 50 more ambulances and 300 emergency medical technicians are on standby to assist in evacuating the victims following the mass pager explosion.
An AFP correspondent in eastern Lebanon said many others had been wounded in similar incidents in the group's Bekaa Valley stronghold.
Lebanon's official National News Agency reported "an unprecedented enemy security incident" with "handheld pagers detonating" in several regions.
The pagers that detonated were of the latest model that Hezbollah acquired in recent months, says Reuters quoting security officials
Hezbollah had asked its members to avoid using mobile phones after Israel's war in Gaza began to avoid Israeli breaches of the technology.
Hezbollah members communicate through their own telecommunications system.
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