Cluster bombs found in Sri Lanka, UN expert says

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-17861187

Unexploded cluster munitions have been found for the first time in Sri Lanka, a UN expert on land mines has claimed.

In an email, Allan Poston said that small bombs from the weapons were discovered in the north of the country, near to where a child was killed in an explosion last month.

The government has denied that it ever used cluster bombs during the civil war with Tamil Tiger rebels.

They are banned under an international treaty that took effect in August 2010.

The treaty has been signed by more than 60 countries, but not Sri Lanka, China, Russia, India, Pakistan and the US - who all argue that the bombs are a legitimate weapon of war when used properly.

The UN says that tens of thousands of civilians may have been killed in the last few months of the Sri Lankan war in 2009.

  - UN finds cluster bombs in Sri Lanka - AP
  - Cluster bomb use in Sri Lanka could trigger war crimes probe - CTV
  - UN report says unexploded cluster munitions found in Sri Lanka, appearing to confirm war use - Global News