The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on Wednesday became the 96th country to sign a landmark international treaty banning cluster munitions, while Laos ratified it, becoming the fifth nation to do so.
Thirty ratifications are required for the Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM), which opened for signature in the Norwegian capital, Oslo, on December 3, to enter into force.
Laos joined the Vatican, Ireland, Norway and Sierra Leone in ratifying the pact, which bans the use, development, production, transfer and stockpiling of cluster munitions.
"We must step up our efforts so women, men and children can walk free of the terrible injuries these munitions inflict," UN deputy secretary general Asha-Rose Migiro said here at an event to encourage countries to sign the convention.
She noted that the CCM was the "first instrument of international humanitarian law to address, in a clear and straightforward manner, the needs and rights of victims of a specific weapon."
Dropped from planes or fired from artillery guns, cluster bombs explode in mid-air, randomly scattering hundreds of bomblets.
Many bomblets often fail to explode, littering war zones with de facto landmines that can kill and maim long after a conflict ends.
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