Casualties From Cluster Bombs More Than Doubled Last Year, Treaty Monitor Says
Under a 2009 law, only cluster munitions with a failure rate of 1 percent or less can be exported,
and they can be used only against "clearly defined military targets," not "where civilians are known to be present." In another significant sign of the coercive effect of the treaty, the last remaining manufacturer of cluster munitions in the United States, Textron Systems, announced last August that it was stopping production of the weapons.
Most of the increase was attributed to the six-and-a-half-year-old war in Syria, where use of cluster munitions by the military was documented early in the conflict
and appeared to have escalated last year with Russia’s support.
Cluster Munition Coalition said that Cluster munitions pose significant dangers to civilians
for two principal reasons: their impact at the time of use and their deadly legacy,
31, 2017
Casualties from cluster munitions, internationally outlawed weapons
that kill indiscriminately, more than doubled in 2016 compared with the previous year, a disarmament group that monitors their use reported on Thursday.
Dozens of other deaths and injuries last year were attributed to the Saudi-led bombing of Yemen and lethal remnants buried in Laos from the intensive American bombing of
that country during the Vietnam War era, the group said.
The group, the Cluster Munition Coalition, said nearly 1,000 people had been killed or injured by the bombs, which are banned by international treaty.
