US says it was not involved in Lebanon pager explosions which struck Hezbollah fighters

Following a series of pager explosions across Lebanon, which killed several people and wounded scores more, the US has insisted that it had no involvement in the incident. A Pentagon official says it is monitoring the situation, which comes amid already heightened tensions in the region.

On Tuesday, pagers belonging to scores of Hezbollah fighters exploded; not long after, casualties began streaming into hospitals, and blood banks opened to support health facilities and those wounded. Hezbollah relies strongly on pagers for communication, due to the risk of mobile phones being hacked.

The Iran-backed Lebanese militant group has blamed Israel for the incident. Israeli officials, meanwhile, have for the moment refused to comment.

The UN has described the attack as 'extremely concerning'. It comes as Hezbollah and the Israeli army have been trading near daily fire across the Israel-Lebanon border following the October 7th Hamas attack. The hostilities have prompted fears of an all-out regional war, and have forced tens of thousands of people from their homes on both sides of the border.