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Lt Gen Upendra Dwivedi. (Photo: PTI)
“The pager that you’re talking about, it’s a Taiwanese company being supplied to a Hungarian company. The Hungarian company thereafter giving it to them. The shell company that had been created is something that is a masterstroke by the Israelis,” the army chief said during the Chanakya Defence Dialogue, in remarks that were widely reported. “And for that, it requires years and years of preparation. So it means they were prepared for it,” he added.
Dwivedi also reportedly noted that warfare doesn’t start with the physical fighting but begins with the planning phase.
He also pointed out the importance of vigilance in supply chains to avoid similar incidents in India.
“Supply chain interruption, interception is something we have to be very watchful of,” said Dwivedi. He explained that India needs to have various levels of inspection, whether it is at the technological or at the manual level, to make sure such things do not get repeated in India’s case.
On September 17, 3,000 pagers used by Hezbollah exploded when a coded signal was sent to them, killing at least 12 people, including two young children, and wounding thousands. It was later reported that Israel’s spy agency, Mossad, had planted explosives inside 5,000 pagers ordered by Hezbollah from a Taiwanese company.
Reuters reported that this plot had been in the works for several months. Hezbollah had ordered 5,000 pagers from Taiwan-based Gold Apollo, which were supplied through intermediaries, including a Hungarian company. Mossad had allegedly modified the devices at the production stage, embedding explosive materials.
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A source told Reuters, “The Mossad injected a board inside of the device that has explosive material that receives a code. It’s very hard to detect it through any means. Even with any device or scanner.” The hidden explosives went undetected by Hezbollah for months, with up to three grams of explosives concealed in each pager.
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, who was later killed by Israel, had instructed his fighters to use pagers, suspecting that Israeli intelligence was using mobile phone networks to locate his operatives. When Nasrallah expanded the use of pagers, Israel initiated a plan to create a shell company posing as an international pager manufacturer, according to The New York Times.
The New York Times reported that BAC Consulting, ostensibly a Hungarian-based company, was under contract to produce the devices for Taiwan-based Gold Apollo. In reality, the company was an Israeli front. At least two other shell companies were established to disguise the identities of the Israeli intelligence officers involved in manufacturing the pagers.
While BAC did produce ordinary pagers for other clients, the pagers destined for Hezbollah were specially modified. The batteries contained small amounts of explosives, which were remotely detonated by Israel on September 17, marking what is now regarded as the most significant security breach in Hezbollah’s network.
Just one day after the pagers used by Hezbollah members exploded, further electronic devices detonated in Lebanon in what appeared to be a second wave of sophisticated attacks.
The Lebanese Health Ministry confirmed that at least 25 people were killed and more than 600 injured in the second wave.
These attacks, too, were widely believed to have been carried out by Israel.
An American official, speaking anonymously, confirmed that Israel had briefed the US about the operation, in which small amounts of explosives hidden inside pagers were remotely triggered.
Both Hezbollah and the Lebanese government accused Israel of carrying out the attack. However, the Israeli military declined to comment.
(With input from the Associated Press)
First Published: Oct 01 2024 | 3:14 PM IST
