The US was “not involved” in the series of pager explosions in Lebanon and was “not aware” of any attack in advance, said Officials.
Washington: The US was “not involved” in the series of pager explosions in Lebanon and was “not aware” of any attack in advance, said a State Department spokesperson
“The US was not aware of this incident in advance, and at this point, we’re gathering information,” said State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller, who repeatedly referred to the matter as an “incident” not an “attack”.
Miller did not say what information the US has so far, and would not say whether the US assesses that Israel is responsible or not.
Hezbollah and Lebanon have both blamed Israel for the attack, which injured about 2,800 people and killed at least nine people, according to the Lebanese Health Minister. The Israel Defense Forces did not comment.
“I don’t have any assessment to offer one way or other at this point,” said Miller.
Miller would not say if the US would make its own assessment, but said it was “gathering information through all of the ways in which we usually gather information”.
