No longer making radio used in Lebanon blasts, says Japanese firm

ANKARA (AA) – A Japanese firm on Thursday said it had stopped in 2014 producing and exporting the model of walkie-talkies used in this week’s second wave of deadly explosions in Lebanon.

In a statement, Icom said they also discontinued the production of the batteries needed to operate the main unit.

“The IC-V82 is a handheld radio that was produced and exported, including to the Middle East, from 2004 to October 2014. It was discontinued about 10 years ago, and since then, it has not been shipped from our company,” it said.

“The production of the batteries needed to operate the main unit has also been discontinued, and a hologram seal to distinguish counterfeit products was not attached, so it is not possible to confirm whether the product shipped from our company,” the firm added.

According to Icom, they sold the product to overseas markets through authorized distributors but do not manufacture their product overseas.

“All of our radios are manufactured at our production subsidiary, Wakayama Icom Inc., in (Japan’s) Wakayama Prefecture, under a strict management system based on ISO 9001/14001/27001, so no parts other than those specified by our company are used in a product,” it said.

At least 32 people were killed and more than 3,250 injured on Tuesday and Wednesday in wireless device explosions that targeted thousands of pagers and Icom wireless units used by members of the Lebanese group Hezbollah and medics across Lebanon, according to the Health Ministry.

Israel has not commented on the blasts, but it has been widely blamed, especially in the Middle East. Unconfirmed reports say the devices had explosives implanted inside them.

The blasts came amid mounting border escalation between Israel and Hezbollah, which have been engaged in cross-border warfare since the start of Tel Aviv’s deadly onslaught against the Gaza Strip, which has killed more than 41,000 people, mostly women and children, following a Hamas attack last Oct. 7.