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Monday 21 Dec 2015 - 12:37 Makkah mean time-10-3-1437
Pic: Human Rights Watch
New York (IINA) – Human Rights Watch (HRW) has condemned the military offensive that the Russian and Syrian regime forces opened against the armed opposition on 30 September 2015, saying the attack has included extensive use of cluster munitions – inherently indiscriminate and internationally banned weapons, according to a report released on Sunday.
The use of such weapons violates United Nations resolution 2139 of February 22, 2014, which demanded that all parties involved in Syria end “indiscriminate employment of weapons in populated areas,” the New York-based organization said.
HRW documented that cluster munitions were used on at least 20 occasions since Syria and Russia began their joint offensive on September 30. Human Rights Watch collected detailed information about attacks in nine locations that have killed at least 35 civilians, including five women and 17 children, and injured dozens, the report revealed.
Through a review of photographs and videos posted online, as well as interviews with local residents, HRW identified seven types of air-dropped and ground-launched cluster munitions recently used in the northern Syrian provinces of Aleppo, Hama, and Idlib.
HRW has determined that Russian or Syrian forces were responsible for the attacks. Armed opposition groups do not operate aircraft, which means that Russian or Syrian government forces were responsible for the air-dropped cluster munitions. The four types of ground-fired cluster munitions used recently were launched from large vehicles that are complicated to operate and have never been seen in the possession of armed opposition groups.
Cluster munitions are explosive weapons that can be delivered from the ground by artillery and rockets, or dropped from aircraft.
AB/IINA
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