Lebanon: Israeli Cluster Munitions Threaten Civilians

Reuters AlertNet

United Nations deminers beginning emergency survey and clearance work in the south of Lebanon have identified 10 locations where Israel used artillery-delivered cluster munitions during the recent hostilities, Human Rights Watch reported today. Human Rights Watch researchers in Lebanon have inspected two of those sites in the village of Kfar Roummane. Dangerous unexploded submunitions, duds that fail to detonate on impact but are still live and at risk of exploding, are present in areas of Nabatiyeh, Tabnine and Beit Yahoun, as well as areas adjacent to the 3km road connecting Tabnine and Beit Yahoun, U.N. demining officials said. They have been able to visit only a limited region so far, and fear that the 10 sites identified in the first two days could be the "tip of the iceberg." U.N. teams have received reports of at least 16 casualties from cluster submunitions that exploded well after they had been fired, and they fear many more...

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