ADDS DETAILS; CHANGES HEADLINE, DECK, LEDE
By Diyar Guldogan
WASHINGTON (AA) - There was no US involvement in deadly pager blasts in Lebanon, the Pentagon said Tuesday.
"To my knowledge, there's no US involvement in this at all. Again, it's something that we're monitoring," spokesman Air Force Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder told reporters when asked if the US was involved in the explosions.
His remarks came after at least nine people were killed and 2,800 wounded in simultaneous detonations of pagers in Lebanon.
"In terms of the reports on the attacks ... I just don't have anything to provide in that regard, obviously, something that we're continuing to monitor, but don't have any information to provide," Ryder said.
There is "no change to US force posture” in the Middle East, he said, when asked about a change to US force posture after the attack.
Ryder said that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke to his Israeli counterpart Yoav Gallant on Tuesday, without giving further information on whether they held a phone call before or after the attack.
"As far as escalation, broadly speaking, in the Middle East. I mean, this is something that we've been paying attention to for more than almost a year now, since Hamas attacked Israel on October 7," Ryder said, adding Austin has been "very focused" on ensuring that the tensions in the region do not escalate into a wider regional conflict.
"We strongly believe that the best way to reduce the tensions along the Israel-Lebanon border is through diplomacy, and that will continue to be our focus," he stressed.
Lebanese group Hezbollah held Israel fully responsible for the wireless explosions and vowed “just retaliation from unexpected quarters” to Tel Aviv.
There was no immediate comment from Israel.
The mass explosion came amid an exchange of cross-border attacks between Hezbollah and Israel against the backdrop of a brutal Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip, which has killed more than 41,200 victims, mostly women and children, following a Hamas attack on Oct. 7 last year.