Taiwan's Gold Apollo Co. has denied any involvement in the manufacture of pagers used in the attacks in Lebanon, after media reports pointed to the company as a supplier of the devices, Bloomberg reports, UNN.
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“These devices are not ours,” said a company spokesperson, who wished to remain anonymous pending an official statement. “We did not manufacture these pagers.
She also noted that Gold Apollo licenses its brand to at least one other company, but declined to name any names.
On Tuesday, thousands of beepers exploded across Lebanon, killing at least nine people and injuring nearly 3,000. The militant group Hezbollah accused Israel of organizing the attack, raising fears of a full-scale war after almost daily clashes over the past year. Israel refused to comment on the situation.
One of the main questions is how the bombings were planned and executed with such coordination. According to the New York Times, citing U.S. and other officials briefed on the operation, small amounts of explosives were planted in pagers ordered by Hezbollah.
Reportedly, one to two ounces of explosives were added near the battery of each pager, and a built-in switch triggered the detonation. The devices exploded simultaneously across the country at around 15:30.
At Gold Apollo's headquarters on Wednesday, company founder Xu Ching-kuang also told reporters that his company did not manufacture the devices, Reuters reports.
Started in 1995, Gold Apollo sells alphanumeric pagers and devices that notify customers in restaurants when their order is ready. According to the company's website, Gold Apollo has 40 employees and remains low-profile even in the Taiwanese tech environment.
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