Karabakh: Cluster bomb explosion leaves sappers injured

PanARMENIAN.Net - Sappers of the Center for Humanitarian Demining working in Nagorno-Karabakh's Martuni region were injured as a result of a cluster bomb explosion on Wednesday, August 11, the State Service for Emergency Situations reports.

The rescue workers of the State Emergencies Service took the two sappers with various degrees of injuries to the Central Republican Hospital in Stepanakert, the capital of Karabakh, where their health was assessed as satisfactory.

Another sapper was taken to the Martuni regional medical department, where his health was assessed as grave but stable.

During the Second Karabakh War in fall 2020, Azerbaijan repeatedly used widely banned cluster munitions in the residential areas in Nagorno-Karabakh. Both Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have confirmed the use of banned Israel-made cluster bombs by Azerbaijan.

Cluster munitions have been banned because of their widespread indiscriminate effect and long-lasting danger to civilians. Such weapons typically explode in the air and send dozens, even hundreds, of small bomblets over an area the size of a football field. Cluster submunitions often fail to explode on initial impact, leaving duds that act like landmines.