More Evidence of Cluster-Bomb Use Discovered in Libya - C.J. Chivers
Civilian de-miners working in Libya have found another type of cluster bomb used last year during the war that overthrew Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, according to the United Nations and Mines Advisory Group, or MAG, a nongovernment organization helping to clean up areas littered with mines and unexploded ordnance. The cluster munitions, known as PTAB-2.5M’s, were found last month scattered in the desert near the eastern city of Ajdabiya.
Mr. Stilin said the suspected RBK-250 was found near the scattered bomblets, suggesting that the bomb did not “have a chance to deploy properly, or it could be they were dropped from low altitude.”
The area where the bomblets and the canister were found was where journalists witnessed low-elevation airstrikes by Libyan government aircraft early in 2011, often against convoys and concentrations of anti-Qaddafi fighters who roamed the highway between Ajabiya and Ras Lanuf. The airstrikes occurred before foreign forces intervened in the conflict, effectively grounding Libya’s attack-aircraft fleet.
Mr. Stilin said the evidence pointed to the Libyan Arab Republic Air Force’s having dropped the bomblets in March 2011. The discovery also aligned with a photo analysis made at that time by David Cencio, an Italian aviation blogger who closely followed the war. In a post on March 14, 2011, Mr. Cencio noted that a photograph made several days before by Marco Longari of Agence France-Presse-Getty appeared to show a Libyan Su-22 flying at low-elevation carrying RBK-250’s.
http://atwar.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/02/13/more-evidence-of-cluster-bomb-use-discovered-in-libya/#
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