Japanese company Icom has strongly denied that the wireless devices involved in recent explosions in Lebanon were its products. Despite labels showing “Icom” and “Made in Japan” appearing on the exploded walkie-talkie devices used by Hezbollah, the company stated on Friday that it is “highly unlikely” that these were genuine Icom products.
In an official statement, Icom said, “Based on the multiple pieces of information that have been revealed, the chances are extremely slim that the wireless devices that exploded in Lebanon were manufactured by us.”
The explosions, which occurred on Wednesday, targeted Hezbollah’s communication devices, killing 20 people and injuring many more. Icom’s spokesperson, Yoshiki Enomoto, told Reuters that it would be impossible for a bomb to be installed in one of their devices during the manufacturing process. “Our production process is highly automated and fast-paced, leaving no time for such tampering,” he said.
The explosions followed another series of detonations on Tuesday involving pager devices, killing at least 12 people, including two children, and injuring 3,000 others.
Icom also clarified that it stopped producing the type of wireless devices involved in the blasts over a decade ago, noting that many of the models currently available for sale are not authentic. Enomoto added, “If it turns out the product is counterfeit, we will investigate how someone managed to create a bomb that resembles our devices. If it is authentic, we will trace the distribution to understand how it ended up in Lebanon.”
