WASHINGTON:The United States is set to provide Ukraine with cluster bombs that pose the least threat to the civilian population, Pentagon spokesman Patrick Ryder said at a briefing on Thursday.
The spokesman said cluster munitions scatter dozens of small bomblets over a large territory. If unexploded, these bomblets will present a threat for civilians for years to come. When asked how would US explain the transfer of these munitions, as they are banned in dozens of countries due to their potential hazard, Ryder replied: “we have multiple variants of DPICM in our stocks.”
“We will not provide older variants with dud rates higher than 2,35%. We would be carefully selecting rounds with lower dud rates,” he said. The Convention on Cluster Munitions was signed in 2008 and took effect in 2010. By now, 111 countries have joined it. Another 12 nations have signed the document, but not yet ratified it. According to Human Rights Watch, the real dud rate of cluster munitions is often way higher than formally declared by the military.
