Bulgaria’s state security agency has said it will investigate a company linked to the sale of pagers to Hezbollah.
DANS is working with the interior ministry to investigate the role of a company registered in Bulgaria, the agency said, without naming the company.
Bulgarian media reports allege a Sofia-based company facilitated the sale of the pagers, which exploded across Lebanon on Tuesday.
Images of the exploded devices suggested they were made by Taiwan Gold Apollo, which said yesterday they were made by Budapest-based BAC Consulting.
But Hungarian news site Telex reported the sale was facilitated by a Bulgarian company, citing sources.
Hezbollah: Pager explosions ‘could be declaration of war’
The head of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, is giving his first public address after pager and walkie-talkie blasts killed at least 37 and wounded around 3,000 more across Lebanon.
The explosions on Tuesday and Wednesday appeared to be the result of a months-long operation by Israel to target as many Hezbollah members at once.
The group has vowed to retaliate against Israel and the unprecedented attack has stoked fears of a full-scale war.
We updated this post as he spoke:
- Hassan Nasrallah says the “Israeli enemy has targeted many of the pagers” in a “severe blow” and “the enemy has actually crossed over all the red lines”;
- The explosions “happened in hospitals, in pharmacies, hospitals, in markets, in shops, in houses, in cars,” he adds, and “in streets where many civilians were along with women and children”;
- The deadly explosions are “something different”, he says, adding around 4,000 pagers were targeted and the blasts were intended “to kill 4,000 people in one moment”;
- “This is the scale of criminality,” Nasrallah says. “What can we call this kind of criminal action – is it a big operation? Is it genocide? Is it a massacre?”
- Nasrallah suggests the number killed and injured could have been higher because some pagers had not been distributed and others were not near Hezbollah members when they exploded;
- The top officials of Hezbollah do not carry the model of pagers that exploded and “what happened did not impact our command, control or infrastructure”;
- Hezbollah will investigate the companies involved in manufacturing and selling the pagers, as well as how they were distributed;
- “This could be called a declaration of war,” he says. “We have received a very hard hit, but this is the state of war. Through this experience and its lessons, we will be stronger and more powerful.”
- The Lebanese front “will not stop until the war on Gaza ends”;
- Nasrallah says Hezbollah hopes Israel will enter southern Lebanon because it will create a “historic opportunity” for the group.
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