The attacks offer a rare window into the inner-workings of Hezbollah — an organization that is notoriously secretive and deeply embedded in Lebanese society.

Hospitals in Lebanon are packed with people whose hands and eyes have been dealt serious injuries. The streets, meanwhile, are fraught with panic about which communication device might explode nex t.

The absence of a full-blown war in Lebanon has been touted as a core U.S. achievement, but now Washington’s grip on the crisis appears more tenuous than ever.

Hezbollah’s Al Manar TV reported explosions in multiple areas of Lebanon, and a Hezbollah official told The Associated Press that walkie-talkies used by the group exploded as part of blasts heard in Beirut.

Hezbollah turned to low-tech pagers to avoid cellphone tracking by Israeli intelligence. Who else uses pagers, and why?

Pagers used by hundreds of members of Hezbollah exploded almost simultaneously in Lebanon and Syria Tuesday, killing at least 12 people.