By Lucy Adautin
Bulgaria is set to investigate a company tied to the sale of pagers to Hezbollah, the Lebanese militant group, after an explosion this week as part of a coordinated attack, the state security agency announced on Thursday.
The country’s state security agency, DANS, stated it is collaborating with the interior ministry to examine the involvement of a company based in Bulgaria, though the company was not named in the statement.
Bulgarian media reports allege that a Sofia-based company called Norta Global Ltd had facilitated the sale of the pagers, which exploded across Lebanon on Tuesday, killing 11 people and wounding 4,000.
Company representatives did not immediately reply to requests for comment, and a lawyer who registered the company at an apartment complex in Sofia also did not respond to questions.
Analyzed images of the destroyed pagers revealed a design typical of pagers produced by Taiwan’s Gold Apollo. However, on Wednesday, Gold Apollo stated that the pagers were manufactured by Budapest-based BAC Consulting.
Hungarian news outlet Telex, citing sources, reported that the sale was actually arranged through Norta.
Bulgaria’s state security agency stated that no shipments of the suspected pagers had been detected within Bulgarian territory.
