|
Storm sets off cluster blasts
20/11/2007 19:30 - (SA)
Beirut - The season's first hailstorm was a blessing in disguise for cluster bomb-infested parts of southern Lebanon - setting off series of blasts from previously unexploded bomblets on Tuesday.
No injuries were reported in the explosions.
After a long dry spell across Lebanon, hailstones as big as walnuts hit the south's villages and struck undiscovered bomblets scattered across the landscape, causing a string of blasts, the state-run National News Agency reported.
A spokesperson for the United Nations Mine Action Coordination Centre, Dalya Farran, confirmed that "many cluster bombs" exploded on Tuesday when they were hit by hailstones in villages near the town of Marjayoun.
Cluster bombs open in flight
More than 30 people have been killed by cluster bombs in southern Lebanon since last year's war between Hezbollah and Israel.
The United Nations and human rights groups accuse Israel of dropping about four million cluster bomblets during last year war, with up to 1 million failing to explode and now endangering civilians in the area.
When cluster bombs, which look like huge canisters, are dropped, they open in flight and eject dozens or hundreds of small bomblets across the ground and vegetation, often across a wide area. Some fail to explode on impact and detonate when moved later.
|
News
