Leicester Bishop Tim Stevens has challenged the government\u2019s decision to stockpile M85 cluster bombs, telling the House of Lords the weapons were an unconscionable evil.<\/p>\n
\u201cI speak as one deeply troubled that the United Kingdom military is using these M85 weapons in my name,\u201d\u009d Bishop Stevens said on May 17, rejecting government claims that cluster bombs were a legitimate part of the military\u2019s arsenal.<\/p>\n
Cluster munitions are an anti-personnel weapon whose shells explode above a target, raining smaller \u201d\u02dcbomblets\u2019 over a large area. The bomblets do not explode upon contact with the ground, but are detonated when trodden on by infantry.<\/p>\n
However, “civilians are almost the sole victims of cluster munitions\u201d\u009d and account for 98 per cent of the weapon\u2019s casualties a May 16 report by Handicap International (HI), a London-based advocacy group said.<\/p>\n
HI\u2019s report stated more than 440 million cluster bomblets have been used in the past 42 years and that the number of casualties from the weapon could exceed 100,000. Over 400 million people currently live in areas littered with unexploded cluster bombs in Africa, Asia, the Middle East and the Balkans.<\/p>\n