Lebanon explosions: Qatar Airways prohibits pagers, walkie-talkies on flights from Beirut airport

Qatar Airways has prohibitedall passengers flying from Beirut Rafic Harirl International Airport (BEY) from carrying pagers and walkie-talkies onflights, following the explosions of pagers and hand-held radios in Lebanon.

In a post on X, Qatar Airways said on Thursday (Sept 19), "Following the directive received from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation of the Republic of Lebanon, all passengers flying from Beirut Rafic Harirl International Airport (BEY) are prohibited from carrying pagers and walkie-talkies on board flights."

Add WION as a Preferred Source

The airline added the ban applied to bothchecked and carry-on luggage, as well as cargo and would be enforced until further notice.

The explosions

The attacks on Hezbollah's communications equipment on Tuesday and Wednesday killed 37 people and wounded around 3,000, overwhelming Lebanese hospitals and wreaking bloody havoc on the militant group.

Citing sources, a report by the news agency Reuters said that the attacks were probably carried out by Israel's spy agency Mossad. However,Israel has not directly commented on the attacks.

A global hunt has been launched for who suppliedHezbollah with the pagers and walkie-talkies.How and with whose help the pager attack was carried out was not yet known, although so far there were possible leads in Taiwan, Hungary and Bulgaria, Reuters reported.

'Explosives put in devices before they arrived in Lebanon'

A preliminary investigation by Lebanese authoritiesrevealed that the communications devices that blew up were implanted with explosives before they arrived in the country.

Also watch | World DNA:Tensions high after Lebanon explosions

According to the UNSecurity Council byLebanon's mission to the United Nations, the authorities also determined the devices, which included pagers and hand-held radios, were detonated by sending electronic messages to the devices.

The 15-member Security Council was due to meet on Friday over the blasts.

(With inputs from agencies)