MOSCOW (Sputnik) — About 450 people were killed by cluster munitions during airstrikes and shellings in 2014, a non-governmental monitoring organization said in a report released on Thursday.
According to the report published by the Landmine and Cluster Munition Monitor (Monitor), about 10 countries reported cluster munition casualties, in nine of which people were killed by unexploded submunitions.
While the report finds that in early 2015, government forces used cluster munitions against non-state armed groups in such crisis-torn countries as Libya, Sudan, Syria, Ukraine and Yemen.
Cluster munitions are a type of explosive weapon that contains and releases large numbers of smaller submunitions over a wide area. The use of cluster bombs is prohibited by a 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions, ratified by 117 countries.
Some states have not joined the convention but imposed unilateral restrictions on the use of cluster munitions.