Taiwan's Justice Ministry's Bureau of Investigation said on Monday there was no evidence that Taiwanese companies were involved in producing pagers that exploded in Lebanon in September, targeting Iran-backed Hezbollah.

The office said in a statement that the Taiwanese company "Gold Apollo" has not produced "AR-924" pagers for years, and that the devices are produced by a company called "Frontier Group Intiti", which is a company outside Taiwan.

On September 17 and 18, booby-trapped pagers and walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah members exploded in Beirut’s southern suburbs and in southern and eastern Lebanon, where the pro-Iranian party has a strong presence. The two incidents killed 39 people and injured about 3,000, according to Lebanese authorities.

Israel has confirmed for the first time that it was behind the operation. Israeli media reported yesterday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu informed his government that he had approved the “Pager” operation and the assassination of Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah, despite opposition from senior officials in the security establishment and the political echelon.