Human Rights Watch yesterday accused the Syrian regime and its ally Russia of using prohibited cluster bombs on a large scale to attack armed opposition fighters in Syria.

The non-governmental organisation which is based in New York said it has documented cluster munition attacks since the 27th of May which has resulted in the death and injury of dozens of civilians in territories controlled by the opposition in three provinces.

The organisation added that a large number of these attacks took place in north and west Aleppo as Russian and Syrian forces tried to besiege the part that is controlled by armed opposition groups.

The Russian army launched a campaign of bombing at the end of September in support of the Syrian regime’s forces and the campaign is ongoing.

The Deputy Director of the emergencies division at the Human Rights Watch Ole Solvang said that “Since Russia and Syria have renewed their joint air operations, we have seen a relentless use of cluster munitions”. He added “The Russian government should immediately ensure that neither its forces nor Syria’s use this inherently indiscriminate weapon.”

In December, the Human Rights Watch announced that it had documented the use of these weapons 20 times since the start of Russian strikes in Syria on the 30th of September.

Human Rights Watch also said that “Although Russia and Syria are not members of the Convention on Cluster Munitions, they are still bound by international humanitarian law, or the laws of war that prohibit indiscriminate attacks”.