A leading international rights group says Russian and Syrian forces have renewed their use of cluster bombs against civilians and rebels in northern Syria.
In a new report released on Thursday, Human Rights Watch documented 47 instances in which cluster munitions were used in attacks by pro-government forces across northern Syria in the past two months.
The New York-based watchdog says the attacks have killed and wounded dozens of civilians.
Cluster munitions, which explode in the air, release hundreds of tiny bomblets, posing a long-lasting danger to civilians. Over 100 countries have signed on to a treaty prohibiting their use.
Syria’s air force also used barrel bombs large, metal containers filled with explosives and metal shards that are pushed manually from aircraft and detonate on impact with the ground.
“Since Russia and Syria have renewed their joint air operations, we have seen a relentless use of cluster munitions," said Ole Solvang, HRW’s deputy emergencies director. “The Russian government should immediately ensure that neither its forces nor Syria’s use this inherently indiscriminate weapon.”
Russia has denied using cluster munitions in Syria, HRW said, but evidence was growing that it had stockpiled the weapons and either used them or participated in attacks where they were used. There was no immediate response from Russian officials to the latest report.
Cluster munitions were used in a July 11, 2016 attack in the northwest province of Idlib that killed at least 10 people, HRW said, and a picture taken near the site showed a bomb being dropped by an SU-34 — a jet it said only Russia uses.
Photographs of the aftermath of another attack a week later, near the al-Tanf border crossing in southern Syria, showed cluster munitions remnants, including unexploded bomblets, or sub-munitions, HRW said. Rebel fighters and the United States said the raid was carried out by Russian jets.
Russia is not a signatory to a 2008 United Nations treaty that bans use of cluster munitions because of their indiscriminate nature and the threat to civilians posed by unexploded bomblets, which remain a long-term threat.
Since mid-2012, Syrian government forces have used both air-dropped and ground-launched cluster munitions, HRW said.
