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Personal devices blasts in Lebanon

Pager blasts in Lebanon may trigger conflict in region — Kremlin

"What happened - whatever it is - is certainly leading to an escalation of tensions. The region is in a volatile state," Dmitry Peskov said

MOSCOW, September 18. /TASS/. Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov has warned of the danger of tensions escalating across the region due to mass pager explosions in Lebanon.

"What happened - whatever it is - is certainly leading to an escalation of tensions. The region is in a volatile state. Of course, each of these incidents can become a trigger for the situation to get out of control," Peskov told reporters.

Earlier, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova emphasized that Moscow strongly condemns the attack on Lebanon and its citizens and views it as another act of hybrid warfare against the country. "In all likelihood the organizers of this high-tech attack purposefully sought to foment a large-scale armed confrontation with the aim to provoke a major war in the Middle East," Zakharova said.

On September 17, many pagers exploded almost simultaneously in different parts of Lebanon. According to the country’s Health Ministry, there have been fatalities and a large number of injured as a result of the emergency. The Shiite movement Hezbollah blamed the explosions on Israel and promised a "just response." According to one version, the incident was a result of a cyberattack. The pagers were reportedly brought to Lebanon for Hezbollah supporters in the spring of this year with explosive devices already embedded in them.

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