Egypt Is Using Banned U.S.-Made Cluster Munitions in Sinai, Rights Group Says<br />Amnesty International said an analysis of an official Feb. 21 video released by the Egyptian military, trumpeting the triumphs<br />of its northern Sinai crackdown on militants, showed one of the weapons, which can kill and maim indiscriminately.<br />28, 2018<br />Egypt’s armed forces have used internationally outlawed cluster bombs, made in the United States, in operations<br />aimed at crushing Islamic extremists in northern Sinai, Amnesty International said Wednesday.<br />Although the video described the weapons as improvised explosive devices planted by the militants, Amnesty said, the markings on one identified it as an American-made Mk-118 anti-tank anti-personnel submunition, "which could only have been dropped by the Egyptian Air Force." Amnesty said the video showed the weapon to be "untampered with<br />and in good condition despite its age," with an identifying number clearly visible.<br />The use of such weapons, if confirmed, would not only contravene the treaty banning their use, signed by a majority of countries,<br />but may also violate United States laws regarding recipients of American military aid, like Egypt.<br />" the group said. that This new video confirms our worst fears, that the Egyptian armed forces are using cluster bombs in North Sinai,<br />Department of Defense documentation obtained by Human Rights Watch and cited in their cluster munition survey shows<br />that Egypt possessed 1,300 Rockeye cluster bombs, containing 321,000 Mk-118 submunitions, as of 2007.
