In pictures: Lebanon's leftover munitions

A year since the war between Hezbollah and Israel ended, the threat from unexploded cluster bomblets remains. Here, a banner warns citizens not to touch suspicious-looking objects.

More than 200 civilians have been injured or killed by leftover munitions since the end of the war last August. This cluster bomblet, held by a farmer, has been deactivated.

Many cluster bombs scattered bomblets across arable land. "My crops were destroyed," said this farmer. "I was too afraid to work my land until it was cleared by professional deminers."

Shadi knew the risks but says he could not afford to lose his crops by waiting for a demining team. He tried clearing the land himself, but was injured in an explosion.

"We didn't know there were cluster bombs among the debris in the street," said Ibrahim. "My nephew stepped on one. It killed him and my uncle, and injured me and others."

Ahmed says he was playing football near his home. The ball hit a munition, which exploded.

A mine clearance expert takes a break from his dangerous work. Over a thousand such people from different groups are trying to rid Lebanon of cluster bomblets.

A man clears submunitions by painstakingly cutting the weeds. He is also harvesting the tobacco among the weeds so the local farmer does not try to do it himself.

A metal detector will only work once the weeds are cleared. Tilled, agricultural land tends to be soft, so bomblets can become embedded in the ground.

Deactivated bomblets awaiting destruction. All photos by Marko Kokic/ICRC.

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