Global Casualties from Cluster Munitions Surge Amid Ongoing Conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East

Almost nine in 10 casualties from cluster munitions in 2025 were civilians, a report has found, as wars on multiple fronts result in a rise in their use. At least 1,063 people were killed or injured by cluster munitions, one of the highest totals on record, according to a monitor report released today by the Cluster Munition Coalition (CMM), an organisation working in more than 100 countries to eradicate the weapons.

Cluster munitions are ground-launched or air-dropped weapons that release hundreds of smaller "bomblets" intended to detonate on the ground. However, many fail to explode on impact and can remain active for decades, acting like hidden landmines. Fresh attacks caused 946 casualties, while 117 were caused by remnants.

The CMM stated that civilians accounted to 87 per cent of the casualties, "bearing the overwhelming human cost of these indiscriminate weapons", across nine countries: Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Afghanistan, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Russia and Ukraine. Ukraine recorded at least 927 casualties, marking the highest country total globally for the fourth consecutive year.

The Third Review Conference on the 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions is scheduled to take place in Laos next week, 16 years after the convention came into force. The CMM noted that while the convention banning these weapons continues to deliver tangible humanitarian results, it is facing mounting pressure from ongoing use and production, the first-ever withdrawal of a state party, and deep cuts to funding for clearance and survivor support.

The coalition highlighted that states outside the convention risk undermining the broader norm against cluster munitions. It reported that Iran used them repeatedly against Israel in 2026, Thailand used them against Cambodia last year, and both Russia and Ukraine continue to use them in their war, which has entered its fifth year. Three separate Iranian attacks on Israel caused dozens of injuries and at least eight deaths.

Allegations of use by other non-party states—including Israel, Pakistan, and possibly the US, as well as Houthi forces operating in Yemen—were also noted but remain unconfirmed. Policy researcher Nicolo Scarpat informed The National that allegations of use have been raised regarding Israel in Lebanon and Palestine since 2023, and Israel and/or the US in Iran in 2026, though the monitor could not independently verify them.

Evidence of new production was also uncovered in several nations, including Israel, which secured a three-year contract with the US despite announcing in 2020 that its last known manufacturer had ceased production of the weapons. Furthermore, evidence indicated that North Korea transferred cluster munitions to Russia.

"This year's findings show a convention that keeps delivering results to affected communities," remarked Tamar Gabelnick, director of the Cluster Munition Coalition. "Yet the rising human toll, continued and new use, production, and transfers by states not party are stark warnings that these gains cannot be taken for granted. And as humanitarian needs grow, funding cuts are stripping away the care survivors depend on."

Among remnant munitions from the 2012-24 period, Syria recorded the highest number of casualties at 68, while Iraq suffered four. Iraq's contamination largely stems from 1991, when the US, France and the UK dropped 61,000 cluster bombs containing roughly 20 million bomblets over Iraq and Kuwait, alongside operations in 2003 by the US and UK involving nearly 13,000 cluster munitions.

"There are no known uses of cluster munitions in Syria since the fall of the Assad regime in late 2024, and Iraq has not used them," Mr Scarpat stated. In 2025, approximately $116 million in international and national funding was allocated to address cluster munition contamination. Nevertheless, a US foreign assistance freeze in February 2025 disrupted clearance operations in multiple regions, including South-East Asia, while subsequent grant terminations diminished mine action capacities in Afghanistan, Iraq and South Sudan.