UN chief alarmed by communication devices explosions in Lebanon, Syria

Urges all concerned actors to exercise maximum restraint, recommit to full implementation of Security Council resolution 1701 (2006), return to cessation of hostilities to restore stability

United Nations: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is deeply alarmed by reports that a large number of communication devices exploded across Lebanon and in Syria on Tuesday and Wednesday, his spokesman has said.

“The Secretary-General is deeply alarmed by reports that a large number of communication devices exploded across Lebanon, as well as in Syria, on September 17 and 18, killing at least eleven people, including children, and injuring thousands,” said Stephane Dujarric, the spokesman, in a statement on Wednesday.

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Dujarric said the UN chief urged all concerned actors to exercise maximum restraint to avert any further escalation, and urged the parties to recommit to the full implementation of Security Council resolution 1701 (2006) and immediately return to a cessation of hostilities to restore stability.

“The United Nations supports all diplomatic and political efforts to end the violence that threatens to engulf the region,” said the spokesman. Lebanese officials reported that explosions targeting pagers and handheld radios killed at least 26 people, including two children, and injured more than 3,200 others across Lebanon on Tuesday and Wednesday.

In Lebanon’s neighbour Syria, 14 Hezbollah fighters were injured when their communication devices exploded in the capital, Damascus, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitor.