http://www.guardian.co.uk/waronterror/story/0,1361,568278,00.html
US deploys controversial weapon
B-52s scour country for troop convoys to attack
Richard Norton-Taylor
Friday October 12, 2001
The Guardian
United States aircraft are dropping cluster bombs on Afghanistan for
the first time as pilots begin to look for moving targets, including
armoured vehicles and troop convoys.
The weapons - which scatter about 150 small "bomblets" over a large
area and whose use has been condemned by the Red Cross and other hu
manitarian agencies - can be dropped by B-52 bombers.
B-52 bombers engaged in air strikes on Afghanistan are based on the
British Indian Ocean territory of Diego Garcia.
"The prime focus was garrisons, bivouac areas, maintenance sites,
troop-type facilities," a US defence official said yesterday. The
official described the latest round of round-the-clock bombing as
"substantial". US officials hope the cluster bomb attacks on troops
may persuade some Taliban commanders to change sides.
The attacks involved about 10 B-52 and B-1 bombers, which took off
from Diego Garcia. The Pentagon said they dropped "area munitions,"
including CBU-89 Gators, which are 1,000-pound cluster bombs.
The Red Cross last year called for a ban on cluster bombs.
In a report sent to the UN it said some 30,000 unexploded bomblets
remained in Kosovo after the conflict ended. They are estimated to
have caused up to 150 casualties, including the death of two Gurkha
soldiers.
"Unlike anti-personnel mines, incidents involving these sub-munitions
usually result in death or injury to several people as a result of
their greater explosive power," the Red Cross said.
Cluster bombs are used to cover a broad area rather than a single
specific target. The bomblets, or "sub-munitions", contain higher
explosive than landmines and their normally brightly-coloured casings
make them attractive to children.
An internal Ministry of Defence report estimated that 60% of the 531
cluster bombs dropped by the RAF during the conflict in Kosovo missed
their in tended target or remain unaccounted for. Cluster bombs were
dropped from medium and high altitudes during the Kosovo conflict
despite official US assessments after the 1991 Gulf war that they were
likely to miss their targets.
On average, between 5% and 12% of the bomblets fail to explode,
according to UN estimates.
In its report on the lessons from Kosovo, the MoD last year described
cluster bombs as "an effective weapon against area targets such as a
group of soft-skinned military vehicles".
It added: "Nevertheless, we have learned that it would be useful to
have a capability to strike single vehicles more accurately."
