Kremlin Reminds Pager Explosion Attacks In Lebanon Trigger Widespread Conflict

Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov/Wary Sergey Bulkin/TASS

JAKARTA -- The Kremlin warned that attacks on the Lebanese Hezbollah group and other groups using exploding pagers could trigger wider regional conflicts. The Kremlin calls for the perpetrators to be identified in the investigation.

The attack on Tuesday, September 17, caused thousands of pagers to explode across Lebanon, killing nine people and injuring nearly 3,000 others, including the group's fighters and Iran's envoy to Beirut.

A senior source of Lebanon's security and other sources told Reuters an Israeli spy agency, Mossad, planted explosives in 5,000 pages imported by the Lebanese Hezbollah group months before the explosion on Tuesday.

"What happens, whatever it is, it will certainly cause an escalation of tension. The (Central East) area itself is in explosive condition, and what is certain is that an incident like this, each has the potential to trigger conflict. The situation is getting out of control," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, Wednesday, September 18.

"Of course, we believe that a thorough investigation into this incident should be carried out, the causes and circumstances that occur must be known, and of course, those behind the mass explosion of this communication equipment must be identified," he said.

The conclusion from such an investigation would allow specialists to eliminate the risk of similar incidents occurring in Russia or elsewhere, Peskov added.

Russia's Foreign Ministry said earlier the attack was an act of hybrid war against Lebanon, which thousands of innocent people said had been injured.

"It appears that the organizer of this high-tech attack is deliberately trying to launch a large-scale armed confrontation to provoke a major war in the Middle East," said Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova.