Excerpt:
As Europe's war with Libya enters its second month, reports are emerging that forces loyal to Libyan strongman Muammar Gaddafi have used cluster bombs in their siege of Misrata, the only rebel-held city in western Libya.
Cluster bombs are air-dropped or ground-launched explosive weapons that eject dozens (and sometimes hundreds or even thousands) of smaller bomblets that are contained within it over a wide swath of territory. The most common types of cluster bombs are designed to kill enemy personnel and destroy armoured vehicles, but other varieties are used to destroy runways, electric power transmission lines, disperse chemical or biological weapons or to scatter land mines.