An initial review of available information has identified at least 119 locations across Syria where at least 156 cluster bombs have been used in the past six months.

Human Rights Watch has investigated two cluster bomb attacks in the past two weeks – in Deir Jamal, near Aleppo and Talbiseh, near Homs – that have killed 11 civilians, including 2 women and 5 children, and wounded 27 others.

“Syria is expanding its relentless use of cluster munitions, a banned weapon, and civilians are paying the price with their lives and limbs,” said Steve Goose, director of the Arms division at Human Rights Watch.

“The initial toll is only the beginning because cluster munitions often leave unexploded bomblets that kill and maim long afterward.”

On March 10, 2013, YouTube footage reportedly from Heish in Idlib showed a type of cluster munition remnant – the ShOAB-0.5 submunition – that is not known to have been used in the conflict before. The ShOAB-0.5 submunition is produced by the Soviet Union and is only known to be delivered by air-dropped RBK-500 cluster bombs.

Human Rights Watch has identified at least 119 locations in Syria where cluster munitions have been used in the period from August 2012 through mid-February. Several locations have been repeatedly attacked with cluster munitions, most notably al-Zafaraneh (near Rastan), as well as Abil (near Homs), Binnish (Idlib), Deir al-Assafeer (near Damascus), Douma (near Damascus), and Talbiseh (Homs).

This information is derived from Human Rights Watch field investigations and from preliminary analysis of over 450 videos posted to the internet by activists since August. Remnants of at least 156 distinct cluster bombs have been identified so far from the video footage. Human Rights Watch has documented government use of cluster munitions, both air-dropped and ground-delivered, but it has seen no evidence of cluster munition use by opposition rebel groups.

For each video, or groups of videos documenting the same location, Human Rights Watch experts identified the type of cluster bomb and the type of explosive bomblets (also called submunitions) that apparently had been dropped by aircraft, including helicopters. This information provides an indication of the scale of cluster bomb use, but the data is incomplete as not all remnants are likely to have been recorded on video and the actual number of cluster bombs used in Syria is most likely much higher.

In the past two weeks, Human Rights Watch has investigated civilian casualties from two cluster bomb attacks, at locations in Homs and Aleppo governorates. Based on interviews with witnesses, analysis of videos posted online by local activists, and photographs taken at the scene, Human Rights Watch has concluded that a cluster bomb attack on Deir Jamal in Aleppo on February 28 killed 2 women and 5 children from the same family and injured a man, while another cluster bomb attack on Talbiseh in Homs on March 2 killed 4 and wounded 26 civilians, including 6 women and 7 children.

A majority of the world’s nations have comprehensively banned the use of cluster munitions through the Convention on Cluster Munitions, which came into force on August 1, 2010. Syria is not a party to the convention and did not participate in the 2007-2008 Oslo Process that led to the creation of the treaty, which bans cluster munitions and requires clearance of contaminated areas and assistance to victims. A total of 79 countries are party to the Convention on Cluster Munitions, while another 32 have signed but not yet ratified.

“All nations that have joined the treaty banning cluster bombs have a legal obligation to speak out and condemn Syria’s ever-expanding use of these indiscriminate weapons, yet too few are doing so,” Goose said. “If there was ever a time to speak out it is now. We urge all nations that care about the protection of civilians to condemn Syria’s cluster bomb assaults in the strongest possible terms.”

Compelling evidence has emerged that an air-strike using cluster bombs on the town of Deir al-`Assafeer near Damascus killed at least 11 children and wounded others on November 25, 2012.

Two residents told Human Rights Watch that the cluster bomb strike occurred as a group of at least 20 local children were gathered in a field where they usually play.

“This attack shows how cluster munitions kill without discriminating between civilians and military personnel,” said Mary Wareham, arms division advocacy director at Human Rights Watch. “Due to the devastating harm caused to civilians, cluster bombs should not be used by anyone, anywhere, at any time.”

A Human Rights Watch analysis of videos posted online by Syrian activists of the scene of the attack indicates that at least three RBK-250/275 AO-1SCh cluster bombs were used in the strike. Each RBK-250/275 AO-1SCh cluster bomb contains 150 AO-1SCh antipersonnel fragmentation bomblets and creates a destructive footprint of 4,800 square meters (52,000 square feet), the equivalent of a United States football field, according to a standard international air-launched reference guide. Markings on the cluster bomb remnants indicate they were manufactured in the Soviet Union in the 1970s. There is no information available on how or when Syria acquired them.

Video footage posted by Syrian activists of the immediate aftermath of the attack shows children and adults lying severely wounded on the ground, with injuries consistent with those caused by cluster bombs.

According to local residents, bomb remnant was found less than 50 meters away from the field where the bomb went off and killed four children in a house.

Another cluster bomb remnant was found in the farmland 150 meters from the field where the children were playing. The cluster bomb killed Zeinab Othman, 12, and one of her parents. The family was working in the farmland at the time, a resident said. The cluster bomb attack also killed and maimed cattle grazing in the area.

The witnesses said that there is no base for the rebel Free Syria Army (FSA) near or around the area. “There is no FSA equipment, machinery or anything else around the fields or near the farmlands,” one resident told Human Rights Watch. Another said: “There were no FSA vehicles or machinery visible. FSA soldiers do not live in residential areas.”

Human Rights Watch has not been able to confirm independently the presence or otherwise of any fighters but the large number of children playing outside at the time of the strike would be consistent with the absence of any fighting in the immediate area.

Previously, in October, Human Rights Watch documented an increase in the use of cluster bombs throughout the country by Syrian military aircraft. Human Rights Watch is a founding member of the international Cluster Munition Coalition, the civil society campaign behind the Convention on Cluster Munitions.

At least 16 governments have condemned Syria’s use of cluster munitions, including Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Qatar, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

The majority of the world’s nations have comprehensively banned the use of cluster munitions through the Convention on Cluster Munitions, which came into force on August 1, 2010. Syria is not a party to the convention and did not participate in the 2007-2008 Oslo Process, which led to creation of the treaty that bans cluster munitions and requires clearance of contaminated areas and assistance to victims. A total of 77 states are party to the convention, while another 34 have signed but not yet ratified.

In May, new cluster munition use was reported in Sudan, another country that has not joined the Convention on Cluster Munitions. In 2011, Libya and Thailand, neither of which has signed the convention, also used cluster munitions.

Data compiled by Human Rights Watch shows an important increase in the use of cluster bombs in the past two weeks in Syria. The cluster bombs strikes are part of an intensifying air campaign by government forces on rebel-held areas that has included dropping high explosive, fragmentation, and even improvised “barrel” bombs into populated areas.

Syria’s army denies using cluster bombs; however, Human Rights Watch has gathered new evidence of ongoing cluster bomb attacks by Syria’s air force and has confirmed them through interviews with victims, residents and activists who filmed the cluster munitions.

“Syria’s denial is meaningless as evidence mounts that cluster bombs are raining down on towns and villages,” said Steve Goose, arms director at Human Rights Watch. “Syria’s air force is imposing a reign of terror on civilians in rebel-held areas across the country with cluster bombs and other explosive weapons dropped from aircraft.”

Human Rights Watch has received information about more than 35 cluster bomb strike sites. Videos and photos of cluster bomb’s remnants indicate that the Syrian air force has used at least 46 cluster bombs. At least 136 unexploded bomblets from the attacks have been identified, all of which pose grave dangers to civilians.

Two cluster bomb victims in the town of Eastern al-Buwayda, as well as residents in the towns of Rastan, Talbiseh, al-Bab, and Qusayr, witnessed cluster bomb air strikes and filmed the aftermath so to directly provide the footage or photos to Human Rights Watch.

The 64 videos reviewed were posted on YouTube in October. In each video, Human Rights Watch experts identified cluster bombs containing explosive bomblets (also called submunitions) that apparently had been dropped by aircraft, including helicopters. Two types of RBK cluster bombs have been identified, one containing 150 AO-1SCh antipersonnel fragmentation bomblets and one containing 30 PTAB-2.5M anti-armor bomblets. In most of the reviewed videos, the visible physical damage to the bombs and the submunitions show them to have been air-delivered.

A review of the markings on the bombs and the submunitions contained inside them, as well as a comparison with the Soviet manuals for the weapons, shows that they were manufactured in the 1970s and early 1980s at Soviet state munitions factories. The most numerous submunitions identified are AO-1SCh antipersonnel fragmentation bomblets, and all appear to have been manufactured at a Soviet factory corresponding to the marking code of 55.

On October 15, the Russian foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, denied the use of “Russian-made” cluster bombs in Syria. He said there was “no confirmation” of use and said it is very “difficult” to establish where the cluster munitions came from.

It is not publicly known how Syria acquired RBK cluster bombs, it is known that these cluster bombs were exported by the former Soviet Union in significant quantities. Authoritative publishers of specialist military hardware handbooks like IHS Jane’s, as well as materials published by the Russian military-industrial complex, state that RBK series cluster bombs were marketed by the Bazalt State Research and Production Enterprise in Moscow.

“While Foreign Minister Lavrov may justify his denial when it comes to modern ‘Russian-made’ cluster bombs, all the evidence so far shows that the weapons being dropped by Syrian government helicopters and jet aircraft originated in the Soviet Union,” Goose said.

In recent days several governments have condemned Syrian use of cluster bombs, including Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Norway, and Qatar.

Videos posted online by Syrian activists on October 9-12 showed cluster munition remnants reportedly in or near the towns of Tamanea, Taftanaz, al-Tah, and Maarat al-Numan, in the Northern governorate of Idlib, Eastern Bouwayda and al-Salloumiyyeh in Homs governorate, Tel Rifaat in Aleppo governorate, the countryside in Lattakia governorate, and Eastern Ghouta, near Damascus. The cluster bomb canisters and submunitions shown in the videos all show damage and wear patterns produced by being mounted on and dropped from an aircraft.

Human Rights Watch does not yet have any information on casualties caused by the recent cluster munition strikes.

“Syria’s disregard for its civilian population is all too evident in its air campaign, which now apparently includes dropping these deadly cluster bombs into populated areas,” said Steve Goose, arms director at Human Rights Watch. “Cluster bombs have been comprehensively banned by most nations, and Syria should immediately stop all use of these indiscriminate weapons that continue to kill and maim for years.”

Human Rights Watch is deeply concerned by the risks posed by the unexploded submunitions to the civilian population, as men and even children can be seen in the videos handling the unexploded submunitions in life-threatening ways.

Human Rights Watch has confirmed that the remnants shown in the videos are RBK-250 series cluster bomb canisters and AO-1SCh fragmentation bomblets. Jane’s Information Group, a publishing company specializing in military topics, lists Syria as possessing RBK-250/275 and RBK-500 cluster bombs. These cluster bombs and explosive submunitions are Soviet-made, but there is no information available on how or when Syria acquired them.

Cluster munitions can be fired by rockets, mortars, and artillery or dropped by aircraft, including helicopters. They explode in the air, sending dozens, even hundreds, of submunitions or “bomblets” over an area the size of a football field. These bomblets often fail to explode on initial impact, leaving duds that act like landmines and explode when handled.

A majority of the world’s nations have comprehensively banned the use of cluster munitions through the Convention on Cluster Munitions, which became binding international law on August 1, 2010. Syria is not a party to the convention and did not participate in the 2007-2008 Oslo Process that led to the creation of the treaty, which bans cluster munitions and requires clearance of contaminated areas and assistance to victims. A total of 77 countries are party to the Convention on Cluster Munitions while another 34 have signed but not yet ratified.

Human Rights Watch is a founding member of the international Cluster Munition Coalition, the civil society campaign behind the Convention on Cluster Munitions.