Two additional explosions rocked Beirut's southern suburbs on Wednesday, a day after a series of pager detonations across Lebanon. Reuters reported that the new blasts, which occurred in separate parts of the city, were caused by hand-held radios, also known as walkie-talkies. Lebanon's state-run media said that three people have been killed by exploding "devices" in the town of Sohmar, in the southern Bekaa Valley.
The latest blasts have resulted in dozens of injuries, following Tuesday’s widespread detonation of pagers used by Hezbollah, which led to the deaths of at least nine people and injured approximately 2,800 others. Security sources have confirmed that the devices used in Wednesday's explosions were walkie-talkies, distinct from the pagers detonated the previous day. Both types of devices were reportedly purchased by Hezbollah five months ago.
The walkie-talkies exploded in Hezbollah's Beirut stronghold, with similar incidents reported in the eastern and southern regions of Lebanon, also under Hezbollah's control. Lebanon's state-run National News Agency corroborated these reports, noting explosions in Hezbollah strongholds. Hezbollah, an Iran-backed militant group, has blamed Israel for the attacks, further escalating regional tensions.
In response to the escalating security situation, major airlines have suspended flights to key Middle Eastern cities. Lufthansa has halted all connections to and from Tel Aviv and Tehran and extended its suspension of flights to Beirut until October 15. The airline stated, "Due to the recent change in the security situation, the Lufthansa Group airlines have decided to suspend all connections to and from Tel Aviv (TLV) and Tehran (IKA) with immediate effect," and added that it would bypass Israeli and Iranian airspace during this period.
Air France has similarly suspended its flights to Tel Aviv and Beirut until September 19, stating that it would evaluate the situation daily, with passenger and crew safety as its top priority. Both airlines have made several schedule adjustments in recent months due to growing instability in the Middle East.