Factbox: The deadly legacy of cluster bombs

LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - More than 400 people were killed by cluster bombs in 2015, most of them in conflict-hit Syria, Yemen and Ukraine, according to the Cluster Munition Coalition. Over the past year seven nations have joined the Convention on Cluster Munitions banning them. Here are some facts about cluster munitions and efforts to end their use around the world: * Cluster munitions, usually called cluster bombs, weredeployed for the first time in 1943 by Soviet and German forces.Since then, over 200 types of these munitions have beendeveloped. * Each bomb's hollow case can contain up to several hundredbomblets. Designed to be fired from the ground or dropped fromaircrafts, cluster munitions open in mid-air and spread thebomblets over a wide area. That makes them inaccurate and likelyto harm civilians and soldiers alike. Unexploded bomblets remainon the ground, becoming de-facto landmines. * According to the 2016 Cluster Munitions Monitor report, in2015 Syrian and Saudi forces used cluster bombs in Syria andYemen. Russia and the United Arab Emirates denied using them.None of these countries has signed the convention banningcluster munitions. * In 2015, civilians made up 97 percent of casualties causedby cluster bombs. * Since the 1960s, more than 20,000 cluster bombs casualtieshave been documented. This is probably a conservative figure,since many deaths caused by these devices have not been recordedor properly documented. It is estimated that, since their firstdeployment, cluster munitions have killed at least 55,000people. * Vietnam and Laos are the most contaminated countries,followed by Iraq and Cambodia. At least 24 countries have areascontaminated by cluster munitions. * On May 30, 2008, more than 100 countries adopted theConvention on Cluster Munitions, which banned the use,production, stockpile and transfer of cluster munitions. It alsoset deadlines for destroying stockpiles and cleaningcontaminated areas up. * The Convention has been signed by 119 countries, but theUnited States, China, Russia, Brazil, Venezuela, Argentina,Israel, Greece, Egypt and Iran are among the countries that havenot signed the treaty.(Sources: Landmine and Cluster Munition Monitor, Convention on Cluster Munitions, United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs) (Reporting by Pietro Lombardi; Editing by Katie Nguyen.; Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, women's rights, trafficking, property rights and climate change. Visit http://news.trust.org to see more stories)