*Ø* Blogmanac | Up to 17,000 unexploded bombs left in Iraq
Anything between 2,000 and 17,000 unexploded British bomblets may remain on the ground in Iraq, posing a daily threat to civilian lives, according to estimates by a British MP. The Liberal Democrat Norman Lamb's figures are based on the likely failure rates of the "sub-munitions" inside the cluster bombs used during the invasion.
Landmine Action, one of the main campaigners against the use of these weapons, believes that the US and UK forces delivered about 300,000 bomblets in the war.
Cluster bombs are highly effective against troop concentrations, but a significant proportion of the bomblets fail to explode on impact. They remain on the battlefield, in some cases in urban areas, where they can easily be picked up and detonated by children.
UN agencies say hundreds of Iraqi children have been killed or injured after collecting unexploded shells and bomblets.
Source
Anything between 2,000 and 17,000 unexploded British bomblets may remain on the ground in Iraq, posing a daily threat to civilian lives, according to estimates by a British MP. The Liberal Democrat Norman Lamb's figures are based on the likely failure rates of the "sub-munitions" inside the cluster bombs used during the invasion.
Landmine Action, one of the main campaigners against the use of these weapons, believes that the US and UK forces delivered about 300,000 bomblets in the war.
Cluster bombs are highly effective against troop concentrations, but a significant proportion of the bomblets fail to explode on impact. They remain on the battlefield, in some cases in urban areas, where they can easily be picked up and detonated by children.
UN agencies say hundreds of Iraqi children have been killed or injured after collecting unexploded shells and bomblets.
Source
Nora posted item above at 3:11 AM | Permalink
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