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HRW Urges Libya to Investigate Evidence of Cluster Bombs Use

© AP Photo / Human Rights WatchTail section of a cluster bomb purportedly found in Misrata, Libya. (File)
Tail section of a cluster bomb purportedly found in Misrata, Libya. (File) - Sputnik International
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Libya should investigate the reported use of prohibited cluster munitions in the cities of Bin Jawad and Sirte earlier this year.

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MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The authorities if Libya must investigate evidences of the use of banned cluster bombs in the country, Human Rights Watch said in a statement on Sunday.

The statement came following reports on the use of banned weaponry in Northern Libya's cities of Bin Jawad and Sirte earlier this year.

"Libyan authorities should investigate these incidents and make sure its forces don't use cluster munitions," the watchdog's Arms Division chief Stephen Goose said as quoted in the statement.

HRW identified that in both cases remnants of RBK-250 PTAB 2.5M cluster bombs were found and noted that both locations were recently bombed by the Libyan Air Force.

However the watchdog stressed that it was impossible to "determine responsibility on the basis of available evidence."

Cluster munition is a type of explosive weapon that contains and releases large numbers of smaller submunitions over a wide area, making it highly imprecise and endangering anyone in the vicinity including civilians.

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So far, 116 countries have joined a UN treaty banning such munitions. Libya is not a party to the agreement.

Libya is currently facing its worst wave of violence since the beginning of the civil war prompted by the 2011 overthrow of long-standing leader Muammar Gaddafi.

There are now two rival governments in the country, with the self-proclaimed authorities controlling the Libyan capital of Tripoli and adjacent western areas. The internationally recognized government is fighting numerous militias, including offshoots of the Syria and Iraq-based Islamic State.

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