Moammar Gadhafi's artillery has been lobbing cluster bombs into residential areas of Misurata, using the taboo munitions to terrorize innocent bystanders, according to a blockbuster published report confirmed by human rights watchdogs.
"Such 'indiscriminate' weapons, which strike large areas with a dense succession of high-explosive munitions, by their nature cannot be fired precisely, and when fired into populated areas place civilians at grave risk," The New York Times reports.
One cluster munition was found a short way from a Misurata hospital.
"It's appalling that Libya is using this weapon, especially in a residential area," said Steve Goose, arms division director at Human Rights Watch. "They pose a huge risk to civilians, both during attacks because of their indiscriminate nature and afterward because of the still-dangerous unexploded duds scattered about."
Click here for Human Rights Watch's reaction.
Much of the world had banned or condemned the use of cluster munitions. But before we all get too high and mighty, the U.S. has used cluster munitions in Iraq and Afghanistan, though the Pentagon claims only battlefield situations away from civilian populations.
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