Death toll from walkie-talkie explosions in Lebanon rises to 20

The death toll from a second wave of explosions of electronic devices in Lebanon on Wednesday rose to 20 with more than 450 people wounded, the country's health ministry said.

"The wave of enemy explosions that targeted walkie talkies... killed 20 people and wounded more than 450," the ministry said in a statement.

At least one of the blasts took place near a funeral organized by Hezbollah for those killed the previous day when thousands of pagers used by the group exploded across the country.

The group, which was thrown briefly into disarray by the pager attacks, said on Wednesday it had attacked Israeli artillery positions with rockets.

The hand-held radios were purchased by Hezbollah five months ago, around the same time that the pagers were bought, said a security source.

Israel's spy agency Mossad planted explosives inside pagers imported by Hezbollah months before Tuesday's detonations, a senior Lebanese security source and another source told Reuters.

The death toll from Tuesday's blasts rose to 12, including two children, Lebanese Health Minister Firass Abiad said on Wednesday. Tuesday's attack wounded nearly 3,000 people.

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk called for an independent investigation into the events surrounding exploding pagers.

A Taiwanese pager maker denied that it had produced the pager devices which exploded in an audacious attack that raised the prospect of a full-scale war between the Hezbollah and Israel.

Gold Apollo said the devices were made by under licence by a company called BAC, based in Hungary's capital Budapest.

Footage from hospitals reviewed by Reuters showed men with various injuries, some to the face, some with missing fingers and gaping wounds at the hip where the pagers were likely worn.

This is a developing story and will be added to as updates roll in.