Iraq to send medical teams to Lebanon after deadly pager explosions

BAGHDAD, Sept. 17 (Xinhua) — Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani on Tuesday directed the dispatch of medical teams to Lebanon for urgent assistance following the deadly pager explosions allegedly carried out by Israel.
“The Iraqi government is following the dangerous security developments in Lebanon and the Zionist cyberattack that led to the martyrdom and injury of a large number of civilians,” Iraqi government spokesman Basim al-Awadi said in a statement.
The explosions and other attacks committed by Israel, as well as the threat to wage a large-scale war on Lebanon, entail “urgent international intervention” to prevent the expansion of war in the Middle East region, al-Awadi said.
Lebanese Health Minister Firas Abiad said Tuesday that at least nine people were killed and about 2,800 others wounded, including around 200 in critical condition, across Lebanon earlier in the day when their pagers simultaneously exploded.
In Lebanon’s neighboring country Syria, 14 Hezbollah fighters were injured when their communication devices exploded in the capital, Damascus, according to war monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
The mass casualties followed Israel’s declaration of shifting its military focus from the Gaza Strip to Lebanon after an 11-month devastating war.
Israel has not claimed responsibility for Tuesday’s blasts, but Hezbollah, Syria, Iran, Yemen’s Houthis, Iraq, and the Arab League have all accused it of being behind them. ■