Fatalities in Serbia

All eyes are on the Olympics at the moment, but beyond the madness of London, cluster munitions are still executing their dirty deed with gusto. In Serbia last week, two soldiers were killed during a clearance operation along the border with Kosovo. According to the Serbian defense ministry, the soldiers died after a cluster bomb exploded as they cleared a mine field near their barracks on Mount Kopaonik in southern Serbia. The cluster bomb was from NATO’s bombing campaign during the 1998-1999 Kosovo conflict.

Serbian cluster bomb survivor and campaigner against the weapon, Branislav Kapetanovic, said the deaths highlighted how “absurd” it was that Serbia had still not signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions, a landmark treaty which bans the stockpiling, use, transfer and production of cluster munitions. It sets strict deadlines for land clearance and stockpile destruction and requires victims be given assistance.

In comments carried on the Cluster Munition Coalition (CMC) website, Branislav said: “This tragedy demands urgent action. It is absurd that after all these years Serbia still hasn’t joined the Convention on Cluster Munitions. We cannot allow new casualties from this weapon. Every unexploded cluster bomb can cause an accident, every cluster bomb stored can be used some day. Only by destroying them and banning them entirely [can] we prevent future suffering”.

Despite having around 15 square kilometres of cluster munition contaminated land, Serbia has not signed the Convention on Cluster Munition, and according to the CMC, maintains a stockpile of the weapon.

Figures of mine and explosive remnants of war casualties in Serbia are not available. The Landmine and Cluster Munition Monitor reports that in 2004, 1,360 casualties (24 killed; 1336 injured) were reported between 1992 and 2000 by Serbia and Montenegro.