Israeli cluster bombs kill 40 in Lebanon

Israeli cluster bombs dropped during Israel's war against Lebanon in 2006 killed 40 people and wounded 252, the UN de-mining organization says.

"Twenty-seven civilians have been killed and 218 wounded by the explosion of these devices since the end of the Augus 2006 invasion of Lebanon by the Zionist regime," said Mine Action Coordination Centre spokeswoman Dahlia Farran, adding that "the majority of the wounded have been permanently disabled."

"Among demining personnel, 13 people have been killed and 34 wounded, including Lebanese soldiers and members of international organizations and the UN Interim Force in Lebanon," she added.

Farran said that so far deminers had managed to clear 42 percent of the estimated 39 million square meters (420 million square feet) of south Lebanon that had been littered with cluster bomb sub munitions, AFP reported.

According to the United Nations, the munitions dropped by the Zionist army during its devastating air war against Lebanon in 2006 included at least a million cluster bomblets.