Japanese Brand on Exploding Walkie-Talkies Says They Haven’t Made the Devices for 10 Years

Japan’s Icom Inc., whose brand appears on walkie-talkies that exploded in Lebanon, said it halted production a decade ago of the model allegedly used in the attacks and is still investigating the situation.

Icom exported its IC-V82 two-way radio to regions including the Middle East until October 2014, when it stopped making and selling the devices, the Osaka-based company said in a statement Thursday. It has also discontinued production of the batteries needed to operate the main unit, it said. The company earlier had warned customers that almost all IC-V82s on the market are counterfeit.

Read More: 6 Questions About the Deadly Exploding Pager Attacks in Lebanon, Answered

Thousands of electronic devices, including pagers and walkie-talkies, exploded over the last two days, killing at least 26 people and wounding more than 3,000. The militant group Hezbollah has accused the Israeli government of orchestrating the attacks, with tensions escalating further in the region. Israel has declined to comment.

Among the many outstanding questions is how explosive materials were planted in the devices. If the Icom walkie-talkies are genuine and manufactured a decade ago, it’s likely they were modified well after sale to their original customers. The company can’t determine if the walkie-talkies are its own, but said the exploded devices appear to lack the hologram labels attached to its products.

The company said all its radios are produced at a factory in Wakayama Prefecture in Western Japan. It said it follows safety protocols outlined by government regulations and does not outsource manufacturing overseas. 

Given that photographs of the devices show severe damage around the battery compartment, the batteries may have been retrofitted with explosives, Icom director Yoshiki Enomoto was quoted as saying in a Kyodo report. The company’s shares rose 2.6% amid a broad rally in Japanese stocks.

The detonations of everyday electronics may herald a new type of terrorism, according to Mitsuru Fukuda, professor of risk management at Nihon University. “This may increase pressure on companies to expand risk oversight of their supply chains” to include distribution and delivery, he said.

The Japanese government is also collecting information regarding the matter, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said. Icom won a contract in the 1990s to supply the U.S. Department of Defense with transceivers.