Haaretz newspaper is running an AP (Associated Press news agency) report from Beirut that one 41-year-old worker was killed instantly, and his 21-year-old nephew was badly wounded, earlier today while working at a construction site in the village of Kfar Tibnit, near Nabatiyeh, when an unexploded “cluster bomb from Israel’s war against Lebanon exploded in southern Lebanon”.
The report added that “It was not immediately clear what caused the bomb to explode – whether one man stepped on it or whether it was activated by the movement of some building materials”.
It said that “The United Nations and human rights groups have accused Israel of dropping as many as 4 million cluster bombs on Lebanon during the July-August war with the militant Hezbollah group. United Nations ordnance clearing experts have said that up to 1 million cluster bombs failed to explode and continue to threaten civilians. At least 25 people have died in cluster bomb explosions in Lebanon since the war ended in a UN-brokered cease-fire on August 14.”
The UN Mine Action Co-ordination Centre for South Lebanon reports on its website, last updated on 28 November, that “There have been 23 reported fatalities and 145 reported injuries from all types of unexploded ordnance in Lebanon. Of these totals, children 18 years old or younger accounted for six of the fatalities and 55 of the injuries, according to MACC-SL. All the fatalities and most of the injuries resulted from cluster munitions.”
The UNMACC says that “Most cluster bomblets were delivered by rockets or artillery. A limited number appear to have been dropped by aircraft (BLU-63-type bombs). Official and complete statistics about the quantity of cluster bombs used are not available. However, an extrapolation based partly on likely failure or ‘dud’ rates of munitions and partly on media reports about the extent to which various types of cluster bombs were used indicates that up to 1 million unexploded cluster bomblets may be on the ground.”
It notes that “Unexploded cluster bomblets pose an immediate threat to returnees and humanitarian workers. They also pose a threat to the deployment of an enhanced UNIFIL peacekeeping force”
And, it says that “An estimated 12 to 15 months will be needed to clear the cluster bomblets from southern Lebanon.”
http://www.mineaction.org/overview.asp?o=540
UNIFIL, the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, which has a reinforced mandate following last summer’s Israeli attack on Lebanon, reported on 11 October that: “Since the 14 August cessation of hostilities, the UNIFIL Chinese Battalion has surveyed over 140,000 sq. metres of areas suspected of having unexploded ordnances (UXOs) and cluster bomb units (CBUs) and destroyed over 3800 of these UXOs and CBUs.
“Additional de-mining activities are conducted by the French, Italian and Spanish battalions. Most of the CBUs disposed since 14 August are from the Al Hinniyah area where many civilians reside…
“The CBUs present a threat not only to civilians, but also to UNIFIL and Lebanese Army troops deployed in the South.
“UNIFIL de-mining experts are worried about the worsening weather during the winter months when the soil becomes softer because of the rain. The CBUs then might sink into the ground. ‘This will make the job more dangerous since it becomes difficult to detect and clear the suspected contaminated areas. UNIFIL de-mining teams and UXO disposal units are trying to remove as many as they can before the winter season,’ according to Alexander Ivanko, UNIFIL Spokesman.
“In his Report of 12 September 2006 on the implementation of Security Council Resolution 1701, the UN Secretary-General said that ‘While IDF has provided some maps to UNIFIL regarding cluster strikes, they are not specific enough to be of use to operators on the ground. I expect that Israel will provide further detailed information to UNIFIL regarding the exact location, quantity and type of cluster munitions utilized during the conflict. In addition to cluster munitions, unexploded bombs, rockets, mortars and other ordnance also litter the south and areas in the north and east of Lebanon.’ ”
http://www.un.org/Depts/dpko/missions/unifil/pr064.pdf
A UNIFIL press release dated 9 October, however, reported that:
“On 9 October, the UNIFIL Acting Force Commander Brig.-General J.P. Nehra met with senior officers from the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) and the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF).
During the meeting, the IDF provided UNIFIL the maps of minefields in South Lebanon as of June 2000 after their withdrawal.
UNIFIL handed over these maps to the UN Mine Action Coordination Center and to the LAF for review.”