Geneva: the latest Cluster Munitions Monitor more than 1,200 people have been killed or injured in Ukraine since Russia's full-scale invasion began in February 2022. The actual toll is likely much higher, but it may take years to determine the precise number, stated Loren Persi, team lead for the Cluster Munition Monitor report.
According to United Nations, Citing conflict in Syria and Yemen, where high casualty numbers emerged only years later, Persi shared this insight with journalists in Geneva. Schools in rebel-held areas have been targeted, noted Monitor research specialist Michael Hart, with incidents occurring in Chin state, Rakhine state, the Saigon region, and Kachin state, among others.
Submunitions, also known as bomblets, cause casualties and damage through blast impact, incendiary effects, and fragmentation. According to UNIDIR, a single attack can involve thousands of explosive units spread over hundreds of square meters. These munitions can be air-delivered or surface-launched and are used against armor, materiel, and personnel. However, civilians continue to suffer the most from cluster munition remnants, emphasized Persi.
Children accounted for 42 percent of casualties from these weapons in 2024, as they often mistake the bomblets for toys or encounter them while playing, going to school, or working in fields, Persi continued.
Funding cuts for humanitarian work have adversely affected countries impacted by explosive weapons. Afghanistan, Iraq, and Lebanon, which had made progress in clearing contaminated land, are now struggling with funding, slowing down clearance efforts, said Katrin Atkins, senior researcher at Cluster Munitions Monitor. Whole programs supported by USAID, including one in Laos, have been discontinued, noted Persi.
For decades, these programs were essential in providing first aid and rehabilitation, including prosthetics, in areas affected by cluster mines. However, these efforts have been cut and not reestablished, Persi explained. In the last 15 years since the Convention on Cluster Munitions, only 10 countries, none of which are States Party to the international accord, have used these weapons, according to the Cluster Munition Monitor.
Eighteen countries have ceased production of cluster munitions, with all former producers now being States Parties to the Convention, except Argentina. The report notes that 17 countries still produce or reserve the right to produce cluster munitions, and none are States Party to the Convention. These countries include Brazil, China, Egypt, Greece, India, Iran, Israel, Myanmar, North Korea, Pakistan, Poland, Romania, Russia, Singapore, South Korea, Turkey, and the United States.