Lebanon

Fire rages amid cluster bombs and mines

Article published on the 2008-07-22 Latest update 2008-07-22 12:43 TU

Cluster bombs found in Lebanon
(Credit: S. Conway/Landmine Action)

Firemen fought a forest fire east of Lebanon on Monday, amid exploding cluster bombs left over from the Hezbollah-Israel war and landmines placed during the Lebanese civil war. The mountainous Bmikin region where the fire broke out was the site of the front line of the civil war that took place between 1975 and 1990.

Emergency crews and and an army helicopter are fighting the fire, but the flames have already destroyed several hectares of trees and have continued to spread throughout the day.

"Firefighters are having a hard time extinguishing the flames because the region is full of Israeli cluster bombs and landmines left over from the 1975-1990 civil war which are exploding and making the situation worse," said an official who wished to remain anonymous.

The UN condemned Israel's use of cluster bombs during the war.

"What's shocking and completely immoral is that 90 per cent of the cluster bomb strikes occurred in the last 72 hours of the conflict, when we knew there would be a resolution," said the UN's then-humanitarian chief Jan Egeland.

When dropped via air, cluster bombs scatter hundreds of 'bomblets' over a wide area, and many fail to explode on impact. The bomblets are live, like mines, for years afterwards, and can detonate at any time.