Kosovo bombs kill boy

UN says that K-For is reluctant to take responsability to clear mines

A 10-year-old boy has been killed and two others have been seriously injured in Kosovo after walking into a field of cluster bombs.

It brings the number of deaths in the province from mines and unexploded ordnance to more than 100 since the end of the war in June last year.

At the same time, it has emerged that demining teams have only recently been given accurate details by Nato of cluster-bomb sites in the province.

The boy was killed near the town of Strpce in the south of the province on Sunday, but details were only released on Monday evening.

The field were the accident happened was known as a cluster-bomb site but was unmarked.

Risks

The risk of this kind of accidents has increased in the province since the spring, as more people venture into the open countryside.

Cluster bombs, which were dropped by American and British planes during last year's war, are particularly feared.

They make up over a third of all unexploded bombs and mines in the province.

Last autumn, the UN's Mine Action Co-ordination Centre in Pristina requested detailed information of where the bombs were dropped.

While some details were given, the centre says essential information was left out.

It argues that this prevented teams from thoroughly marking out cluster-bomb sites.

Lobby for information

Ten months later, that information has now been handed over - but only after intense lobbying from the UN.

Nato planes dropped almost 1,400 bombs in Kosovo, of which 10% are thought to be lying unexploded.

UN officials say there has been a reluctance by K-For to take responsibility for the problem.

While K-For soldiers mark out so-called essential danger areas, the vast majority of demining work is carried out by charities.