Cluster bombs are composed of 202 small bomblets which are scattered and designed to explode on impact. When they fail to detonate – 5 percent are typically duds – they effectively become antipersonnel mines.
Cluster bombs are often used by U.S. forces. Human Rights Watch estimated in a recent report on Afghanistan that 12,400 unexploded bomblets remain on the ground and have killed or injured 127 civilians since October 2001.