The batteries in walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah, which exploded earlier this week, contained PETN, a powerful explosive, according to a Lebanese source familiar with the devices. The explosives were integrated into the battery packs, making detection extremely difficult.
Hundreds of these devices detonated on Wednesday, following a similar incident involving Hezbollah’s pagers the day before. Images of the exploded devices showed labels indicating they were manufactured by Icom, a Japanese company that ceased production of the affected models over ten years ago, with many of the units on the market now believed to be counterfeit.
According to a security official from Icom, it would have been difficult to plant explosives in the main body of the devices due to their compact internal structure, suggesting the explosives were likely hidden in the detachable battery packs. Some walkie-talkies exploded even when the battery packs were separated from the devices.
Earlier reports indicated that Hezbollah’s pagers had also been rigged with small amounts of explosives, likely placed months before the explosions occurred.
