Lebanon blasts: Maker of walkie-talkies says they were discontinued 10 years ago

Japanese firm Icom has issued a statement about the devices used in an attack on Hezbollah fighters. Walkie-talkies used by the militant group exploded Wednesday, a day after a similar made pagers explode.  At least 20 people were killed and 450 were injured in the second attack.

"The IC-V82 is a handheld radio that was produced and exported, including to the Middle East, from 2004 to October 2014. It was discontinued about 10 years ago, and since then, it has not been shipped from our company," Icom said.

"The production of the batteries needed to operate the main unit has also been discontinued, and a hologram seal to distinguish counterfeit products was not attached, so it is not possible to confirm whether the product shipped from our company," it said.

Icom added that all of its radios are made in Japan, and its export program is based on strict Japanese security and trade control regulations, adding to the questions of how the devices could have been tampered with.