Manufacturer Behind Devices That Exploded in Lebanon Also Supplies The Pentagon

On September 18, a new wave of remote exploding attack blasted in Lebanon, which was widely believed to be carried out by Isreal, has killed at least 20 people and nearly 450 wounded.

According to Al Jazeera, several blasts took place simultaneously, which were similar to the explosions on Tuesday, but the second round was mostly related to walkie-talkies or radios. Lebanon’s state news agency said some of the explosions occurred in a brand of two-way radio, with images from the scenes showing walikie-talkies labeled with “ICOM” and “made in Japan.”

Icom is a Japanese manufacturer of wireless communication equipment, producing amateur radios, and navigation products. Its products are sold in more than 80 countries around the world with subsidiaries in the U.S., Australia, Germany, and Spain. According to company, it has also supplied electronics gear to public safety organizations and the U.S. Department of Defense and Marine Corps.

The ICOM walkie-talkie found at the explosion site.

A statement on the company’s website said that the IC-V82 handheld radio was produced from 2004 to 2014 and exported to overseas markets, including in the Middle East. The company also emphasized that its products were sold overseas only to its authorized distributors, in line with Japanese government regulations.

When it comes to the devices that exploded in Lebanon, Icom explained those devices were not fixed with the counterfeit-prevention sticker, making it hard to confirm whether they were produced in Japan. However, the company refused to specify how it determined that radios did not have the label.

Statement released by ICOM’s official website.

Both Hezbollah and the Lebanese government accused Israel of orchestrating these attacks.

Israel has not yet directly commented on the blasts, but Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said in a speaking to Israeli soldiers on Wednesday, that Israel is at the start of a “new phase” in the war. Despite no mention of the explosions of electronic devices in Lebanon, Gallant praised the work of Israel’s army and security agencies, noting the results are “very impressive.”

The U.S. denied having any prior knowledge about the blasts. However, according to Reuters, an U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, stated that Israel told Washington on Tuesday it was going to do something in Lebanon.

The exact cause of the explosions remains unknown, but several analysts have suggested that the supply chain of the devices was tampered with or manipulated before reaching Lebanon. Bomb disposal specialist, Chris Hunter told Al Jazeera that Israel may have gained access to the supplier.

In a letter to the U.N. Security Council, Lebanon’s mission to the United Nations reported that a preliminary investigation by Lebanese authorities found that the communication devices involved in the blasts had explosives planted in them before they arrived in Lebanon.

Interestingly, in 2020, the U.S. has led a so-called Clean Network initiative to against China, which says it seeks to eliminate the “long-term threat to data privacy, security, and human rights posed to the free world from authoritarian malign actors.” According to the State Department’s website, Israel, Japan, and Taiwan authorites are all among US’s partners in this initiative. However, the latest attack makes Chinese people doubt whether a pair of dirty hands can really clean the Internet.