3500 cluster bombs dropped on the monastery of Gracanica

Politika, April 18 - Since the beginning of the aggression against our country, the criminal NATO alliance has also used cluster bombs which have been prohibited by international conventions. As learnt from the sources of the Republic Ministry of Internal Affairs, cluster bombs have been used on the whole territory of Serbia, and the victims of their destructive effects have been innocent people as well as a large number of civilian objects.

Thus, for instance, only in the village of Gracanica, 3,500 cluster bombs have been discharged from 14 containers on the village of Gracanica, next to one of the holiest Serbian shrines, the Gracanica monastery.

NATO has been using these bombs in its attack against our country with the purpose of destroying the civilian population. After the shelling, 20 to 30 percent of the cluster bombs remain on ground for further activation, making civilian particularly exposed to them.

The injuries caused by cluster bombs are twofold: mechanical ones, caused by the effects of the exploded particles shooting out, and fire ball injuires which inflict serious burns and permanent disability. This is why they are classified among inhumane weapons for mass killing, and have therefore been prohibited by international conventions.

The containers and the cluster bombs are American made. When attacking, the aircraft carries two containers with 240 bombs. In one attack it acts on an area 150 metres wide and 1 kilometre long. The bombs are intended to combat civilians, vehicles and building objects. After the explosion of the metal casing, the fragments of the bomb have a lethal effect on human beings at a distance of 150 metres. The fragments are large and have such a heat energy that they can penetrate 6.4 millimetre armour at a distance of 11 metres, and damage vehicles at a distance of 75 metres, while the point of the shot also displays penetrating cumulative effects.

The bomb also has an incendiary effect. The fireball is 16 metres in diameter, and the incendiary mixture consists of circonium and cyclotone. The bombs are imprecise and they are scattered without the possibility of controlling their fall.