AI opposes the use of cluster bombs in Karabakh conflict

At shelling of the Azerbaijani city of Barda, cluster bombs were used, the international Amnesty International (AI) announced its conclusions on October 29, calling on the parties to the Karabakh conflict to stop using prohibited ammunition.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on October 13, the Emergency Service of Nagorno-Karabakh reported that sappers found 673 unexploded shells and bombs in residential areas of Stepanakert, including cluster bombs. On October 28, the Azerbaijani General Prosecutor's Office (GPO) announced a strike on the city of Barda with cluster bombs from the "Smerch" missile installations. In the evening on October 29, the number of civilians killed by shelling reached 91.

The AI's crisis response analysts have examined the photos taken by the "Vice News" of "fragments of 9N235 cluster ammunition from Russian 9M55 'Smerch' missiles, which were apparently fired at the city by Armenian Armed Forces," the AI said in its statement released on October 29 on its website.

The use of cluster bombs in strikes on civilians leads to innumerable deaths, wounds and sufferings, said Marie Struters, the AI's Director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia, who is quoted in the press release.

Cluster bombs are indiscriminate weapons, and the use thereof under any circumstances is prohibited by the international humanitarian law, human rights activists have recalled. "We are again calling on both parties to immediately stop using cluster ammunition and prioritize the protection of civilians," the AI said in its statement.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on October 30, 2020 at 09:50 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.