Pagers, used every day by health care professionals, became a deadly weapon Tuesday as thousands of them simultaneously exploded in Lebanon.

The attacks in southern Lebanon follow others on Hezbollah rocket launchers and infrastructure, after Hezbollah vowed to respond to detonations of pagers and radios.

For millions of Lebanese, this week's mass explosion of pagers and walkie-talkies, with its bloody aftermath, is painfully similar to the horrific explosion four years ago of haphazardly stored ammonium nitrates that tore through Beirut's port,

Walkie-talkies and solar equipment exploded in Beirut and other parts of Lebanon on Wednesday in an apparent second wave of attacks targeting devices a day after pagers used by Hezbollah blew up, state media and officials for the militant group said.