Cluster bombs cause steep rise in casualties

The Russia-Ukraine conflict contributed to a rise last year in the number of casualties around the world attributed to cluster bombs, according to a report from the Cluster Munition Coalition.

The group of NGOs said in its Cluster Munition Monitor 2023 report released on Tuesday that at least 1,172 casualties in eight countries were caused by the controversial bombs.

The casualties, people who were either killed or maimed, include 890 in Ukraine, 84 in Syria and 13 in Myanmar. There were also casualties in Azerbaijan, Iraq, Laos, Lebanon and Yemen.

About 95 percent of the victims were civilians, the report added, and many were children who had handled old, unexploded bombs left over from past conflicts.

The international watchdog said the number of casualties caused by the ordnance was the largest since it began its annual report in 2010.

Cluster bombs, which fall in large numbers close together, creating a carpet of apparently indiscriminate destruction, have been controversial for decades.

In 2008, 107 countries and territories signed the United Nations' Convention on Cluster Munitions, through which they agreed to no longer stockpile, distribute or use the weapons. The number of signatories has since grown to 124.

Neither Russia nor Ukraine is a party to the ban, nor is the United States, which began supplying cluster munitions to Ukraine this year.

On Wednesday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Kyiv in a rare gesture of support as Ukraine's so-called counteroffensive against Russian forces grinds into its fourth month with only small gains.

During his two-day visit, Blinken is likely to announce a new package of US assistance worth more than $1 billion, a senior State Department official told reporters on the trip.

Opponents of cluster bombs believe the US decision to supply the weapons to Ukraine could dilute rules aimed at limiting their proliferation, The Associated Press reported.

Agencies contributed to this story.