Human Rights Watch has echoed accusations by Syrian activists that Russia was behind the use of new advanced cluster munitions in Syria, by dropping them from its warplanes or supplying them to the Assad Government.
The New York-based group said that photographs it obtained showed that the cluster munitions were dropped on Kafr Halab, a village in Aleppo on October 4. “It’s disturbing that yet another type of cluster munition is being used in Syria given the harm they cause to civilians for years to come,” said Nadim Houry, Human Rights Watch’s deputy Middle East director.
“Neither Russia nor Syria should use cluster munitions, and both should join the international ban without delay.” Russia launched an aerial bombing campaign against opponents of President Bashar al-Assad on September 30.
Cluster munitions contain dozens or hundreds of bomblets and are fired in rockets or dropped from the air.
Widely banned, they spread explosives over large areas and are indiscriminate in nature, often continuing to maim and kill long after the initial attack when previously unexploded bomblets detonate. Their use in Kafr Halab coincides with the emergence of evidence that they have been used in the provinces of Aleppo, Hama and Idlib since Russia launched its intervention.
A video posted on October 7 by activists that was reportedly taken in northwest of Hama shows smoke trails of ground-fired rockets launched from the direction of Jabal Zayn al-Abidin and multiple subsequent explosions of submunitions in the town.