Human Rights Watch accuses Syria of using Russian-made cluster bombs in populated areas.
22 replies, posted
[QUOTE]A leading human rights watchdog has accused the Syrian government of dropping cluster bombs on populated areas during its fight against rebels.
The New York-based Human Rights Watch said online video reports purporting to show evidence of such weapons being used had recently multiplied.
Cluster bombs are banned by 77 countries under a convention because of the threat they pose to civilians.
Syria has not signed up to the convention.
There was no immediate comment from Syrian government officials on the HRW accusation.
Fierce fighting has continued between the Syrian army and rebel fighters in the north-western town of Maarat al-Nuaman for control of a highway linking the capital Damascus to the second city, Aleppo.
Rebels captured the strategic town on Tuesday, hindering the army's ability to reinforce troops in Aleppo.
Syrian government forces are still holding two nearby bases, Wadi Daif and Hamdiyeh.
'Disregard'
HRW said many of the latest cluster bomb attacks had taken place on towns around the highway which runs through Maarat al-Nuaman.
Cluster bomb canisters and sub-munitions shown in online videos showed "damage and wear patterns produced by being mounted on and dropped from an aircraft", according to the watchdog.
It identified them as Russian-made RBK-250 series cluster bomb canisters with AO-1SCh fragmentation bomblets.
"Syria's disregard for its civilian population is all too evident in its air campaign, which now apparently includes dropping these deadly cluster bombs into populated areas," said Steve Goose, HRW's arms director.
"Cluster bombs have been comprehensively banned by most nations, and Syria should immediately stop all use of these indiscriminate weapons that continue to kill and maim for years."
The cluster bomb convention was signed in 2008 to ban the stockpiling, use and transfer of virtually all existing cluster bombs, as well as the clearing up of countries littered with unexploded munitions.
States which are not parties to the convention include Syria and Russia, but also the US and Turkey.
The UN says more than 18,000 people have been killed in the conflict in Syria with 170,000 fleeing the country and 2.5 million in need of aid within the country.
How a cluster bomb works
[IMG]http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/48563000/jpg/_48563174_44669105.jpg[/IMG]
1. The cluster bomb, in this case a CBU-87, is dropped from a plane and can fly about nine miles before releasing its load of about 200 bomblets.
2. The canister starts to spin and opens at an altitude between 1,000m and 100m, spraying the bomblets across a wide area.
3. Each bomblet is the size of a drink can and contains hundreds of metal pieces. When it explodes, it can cause deadly injuries up to 25m away.[/QUOTE]
[URL="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-19942318"]BBC[/URL]
Well shit.
What is wrong with clusterbombs?
[highlight](User was banned for this post ("Didn't read" - Craptasket))[/highlight]
[QUOTE=redshift2234;38035525]What is wrong with clusterbombs?[/QUOTE]
They're too good - or to put it another way, they're indiscriminate about who they hit. You can kill hundreds of civilians with one bomb.
[QUOTE=redshift2234;38035525]What is wrong with clusterbombs?[/QUOTE]
[quote]"Cluster bombs have been comprehensively banned by most nations, and Syria should immediately stop all use of these indiscriminate weapons that continue to kill and maim for years."
The cluster bomb convention was signed in 2008 to ban the stockpiling, use and transfer of virtually all existing cluster bombs, as well as the clearing up of countries littered with unexploded munitions.[/quote]
Read, you imbecile. They send small bombs flying off in every direction (each of which has a damage radius of 25 meters). Besides the fact that it's utterly random where these bombs hit, many of them do not explode, and can lie undisturbed for years, damaging civilians long after they were delivered.
[QUOTE=redshift2234;38035525]What is wrong with clusterbombs?[/QUOTE]
It's like shoving the idea of preventing collateral damage right out of the window.
Let's hope Russia won't get involved any further then just being a bomb manufacturer.
dropping clusterbombs on random fields is enough of a crime, especially with the whole unexploded ordnance thing
dropping clusterbombs on a city is straight up murder.
[QUOTE=Chrille;38035644]Read, you imbecile. They send small bombs flying off in every direction (each of which has a damage radius of 25 meters). Besides the fact that it's utterly random where these bombs hit, many of them do not explode, and can lie undisturbed for years, damaging civilians long after they were delivered.[/QUOTE]
But isn't that more like faulty equipment, I mean mortars and howitzers have problems with round not exploding on impact. And hell we still use large bomb campaigns, look at the early days of afganistan where we had a bunch of heavy bombers dropping large scores of 250LBS up and down the mountains. Is it intentionally unable to be detonated until a later date?
[QUOTE=The golden;38036649]Can we please just get in there and end this fucking fiasco already?
Syria is already pushing Turkey to the brink of war and many western nations are already supplying weapons and arms.[/QUOTE]
War means business, why close it?
I'm starting to sound like a conspiracy nut now.
The syrian army had to surrender a long time ago, it would have saved thousands of innocent lives
[QUOTE=ZombieDawgs;38037237]War means business, why close it?
I'm starting to sound like a conspiracy nut now.[/QUOTE]
Read a bit more into it and you might just wake up bro.
Human Rights Watch accuses Syria of using cluster bombs on civilians, Syria still don't give a shit.
[QUOTE=Clavus;38035654]It's like shoving the idea of preventing collateral damage right out of the window.[/QUOTE]
Exactly, their very point is to cause as much collateral damage as possible.
To be honest, considering that the syrians were "relatively" carefull about collateral damage for now and defintiely made a big show of not using their huge chemical stockpile a claim that cluster munitions were indiscrinately used seems surprising and somewhat odd.
[QUOTE=redshift2234;38035525]What is wrong with clusterbombs?[/QUOTE]
It's like trying to kill a mouse with a shotgun in a orphanage.
[QUOTE=soccerskyman;38043055]It's like trying to kill a mouse with a shotgun in a orphanage.[/QUOTE]
It's like trying to do surgery with a chainsaw.
[QUOTE=Chrille;38035644]Read, you imbecile. They send small bombs flying off in every direction (each of which has a damage radius of 25 meters). [/QUOTE]
Actually it was probably you that needed to read, being that you quoted the CBU-87's details(U.S. Cluster bomb, of which they haven't signed the declaration banning their use, either), being that it's almost twice as big as the munitions stated to be used by Syria in the article.
[QUOTE=Mike42012;38043121]It's like trying to do surgery with a chainsaw.[/QUOTE]
It's like trying to shave with an industrial shredder.
[QUOTE=Uber|nooB;38044421]It's like trying to shave with an industrial shredder.[/QUOTE]
It's like trying to hammer with a sledgehammer.
[QUOTE=Badballer;38044456]It's like trying to hammer with a sledgehammer.[/QUOTE]
Nah.. I've used a 20 lb sledgehammer to tap in nails before. It wasn't efficient, but it sure as hell doesn't fit the general theme.
[QUOTE=redshift2234;38036804]But isn't that more like faulty equipment, I mean mortars and howitzers have problems with round not exploding on impact. And hell we still use large bomb campaigns, look at the early days of afganistan where we had a bunch of heavy bombers dropping large scores of 250LBS up and down the mountains. Is it intentionally unable to be detonated until a later date?[/QUOTE]
250lb bombs explode on impact. Bomblets deployed by parachutes will NOT explode in impact if they have a very soft landing, as these may. What if they land in a field, or in someone's garden? The next time a kid happens by, sees the bright yellow cylinder, and goes to touch it... I mean, isn't this shit obvious to you?
It's the same reason mines are so reviled.
Sorry, you need to Log In to post a reply to this thread.