NEW YORK (dpa): The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, slammed the coordinated blasts in Lebanon involving walkie-talkies and pagers, speaking of a war crime before the United Nations Security Council.
"If the attacker is unable to assess the compliance of the attack with binding rules of international law, notably the likely impact on civilians, then the attack should not be carried out," he said.
His comments come after at least 37 people died when hundreds of pagers used by Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah militia simultaneously exploded on Tuesday and a second wave of communication devices - this time walkie-talkies - blew up on Wednesday.
The UN Security Council is holding an emergency meeting to discuss the mass explosions across Lebanon, with the government in Beirut and Hezbollah blaming Israel.
For the record, Israel has not commented.
"International humanitarian law prohibits the use of booby trap devices in the form of apparently harmless, portable objects which are specifically designed and constructed to contain explosive material. It is a war crime to commit violence intended to spread terror among civilians," Türk said. - dpa
