– Dubai’s Emirates Airlines Bans Pagers & Walkie-Talkies For All Flights:
Dubai’s Emirates Airlines is the first major carrier outside of Lebanon to ban all passengers from carrying pagers and walkie-talkies on its flights, citing the dangers of last month’s exploding pagers and electronic devices attacks in Beirut.
“All passengers traveling to, from, or via Dubai are prohibited from transporting pagers and walkie-talkies in checked or cabin baggage,” the airline has announced in a statement on its website. It said this is part of enhanced security measures which will result in the confiscation of any prohibited items by Dubai Police.
The pager and walkie-talkie attacks, widely blamed on Israeli intelligence, were the result of the devices having been intercepted and manipulated during shipping. It’s believed small bomb materials were placed inside them, and then detonated when a signal was sent simultaneously to thousands of the electronics.
The death toll from the September 17 and 18 attacks was at least 42 killed and over 3500 injured. At least 12 civilians were killed as a result of the operation meant to disrupt Hezbollah, including children.
One big concern in the aftermath was the possibility of booby-trapped pager and device proliferation outside the country. What if someone with one of the thousands of manipulated pagers got on a plane?
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