Syria: Evidence of Islamic State Cluster Munition Use | WPN World People News

Credible evidence has emerged that Islamic State forces used ground-fired cluster munitions in at least one location in northern Syria in recent weeks. The use of cluster munitions by non-state actors such as the Islamic State shows the urgent need for Syria and all nations that have not yet done so to join the ban on cluster munitions and destroy their stockpiles.

Syrian government forces have used cluster munitions since June 2012 despite widespread international condemnation. An attack on August 21 is the most recent report of government use.

“Any use of cluster munitions deserves condemnation, but the best response is for all nations to join the treaty banning them and work collectively to rid the world of these weapons,” said Steve Goose, arms division director at Human Rights Watch and chair of the Cluster Munition Coalition (CMC).

Cluster munition use in Syria in 2014 – as well as in Ukraine, and South Sudan – will be considered by governments at the treaty’s fifth annual meeting in San Jose, Costa Rica, from September 2 through 5, 2014. Syria, Ukraine, and South Sudan have not joined the treaty.

Based on reports of local Kurdish officials and photographic evidence, forces of the Islamic State, formerly the Islamic State of Iraq and Sham (ISIS), used cluster munitions on July 12 and August 14 during fighting around the Syrian town of `Ayn al-`Arab, also known as Kobani in Kurdish, in Aleppo governorate near Syria’s northern border with Turkey. The area is under the control of Kurdish forces from the People’s Protection Units (YPG).

A senior Kurdish official from the town told Human Rights Watch that four YPG combatants and an 11-year-old child had been killed in the two attacks, which also wounded a child. This is believed to be the first known use of cluster munitions by the Islamic State, which has been fighting the YPG and other non-state armed groups in the area for over a year. Human Rights Watch does not know how the Islamic State acquired these cluster munitions.

Recent use of air-delivered cluster munitions by Syrian government forces include an August 21 attack on the town of Manbij in Aleppo governorate, which has been under the control of the Islamic State since the beginning of the year. According to an organization working in the town, the attack killed at least six civilians and wounded 40 more.

Syrian government forces have used at least 249 cluster munitions since mid-2012 in multiple locations in 10 of Syria’s 14 governorates, based on video and film evidence, witness accounts, and research by Human Rights Watch and others. The actual number is probably much higher as not all instances of use have been recorded.

Data collected by Cluster Munition Monitor 2014 – the annual survey issued by the Cluster Munition Coalition on August 27 – shows that there were at least 1,584 casualties from cluster munition attacks and unexploded submunitions in Syria in 2012 and 2013, while hundreds more were recorded in the first half of 2014. The vast majority of those identified as killed – 97 percent – were civilians.

Syrian government forces have used cluster munitions since June 2012 despite widespread international condemnation. More than 140 countries have condemned Syria’s use of cluster munitions in statements and resolutions, including 51 that have not joined the Convention on Cluster Munitions.

Cluster munitions can be fired by rockets, mortars, and artillery or dropped by aircraft. They explode in the air, sending dozens, even hundreds, of submunitions or “bomblets” over a wide area. These submunitions often fail to explode on initial impact, leaving duds that act like landmines and explode when handled.

All parties to the conflict in Syria should immediately halt the use of cluster munitions and make a commitment not to use these weapons, which have been banned by most of the world’s nations. Syria should accede to the 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions without delay and destroy its stocks of the weapons. The UN Security Council should impose an arms embargo on the Syrian government and other armed groups that commit systematic or widespread rights abuses.

Source: Human Rights Watch