A Japanese handheld radio manufacturer has distanced itself from walkie-talkies bearing its logo that exploded in Lebanon, claiming to have discontinued production of the devices over a decade ago.
The deadly incidents, which occurred on Wednesday, resulted in the deaths of at least 20 people and injuries to 450 others. Hundreds of walkie-talkies, some used by the armed group Hezbollah, exploded across the country.
Images and videos from the aftermath of the attacks showed devices that appeared to be IC-V82 transceivers manufactured by Icom, an Osaka-based telecommunications company. However, Icom has vehemently denied any involvement, stating that they have not produced or exported IC-V82s, nor the necessary batteries, for the past 10 years.
This incident marks the second time an Asian company has been implicated in bombings in Lebanon this week. Earlier, thousands of exploding pagers, seemingly linked to Taiwanese firm Gold Apollo, caused the deaths of at least 12 people and injured over 2,000. Gold Apollo’s founder, Hsu Ching-Kuang, has denied any connection to the attacks, claiming that he licensed his trademark to a Hungarian company called BAC Consulting, which has been unreachable.
