More than 1,000 civilians were killed or wounded by U.S. and British cluster bombs in the Iraq war, while Iraqi violations of humanitarian law led to significant civilian casualties, Human Rights Watch said on Thursday.

More than 1,000 civilians were killed or wounded by U.S. and British cluster bombs in the Iraq war, while Iraqi violations of humanitarian law led to significant civilian casualties, Human Rights Watch said on Thursday.  [AFP]

The New York-based watchdog group said its research in Iraq between April 29 and June 1 in 10 cities was not intended to find out the number of civilian casualties but to focus on military tactics that caused them.

It said that while U.S.-led forces took precautions to spare civilians and uphold the legal obligations of warfare, different military practices in the ground war, the air war and the post-conflict period could have prevented civilian deaths.

The report, "Off Target: The Conduct of the War and Civilian Casualties in Iraq," said ground-launched cluster

bombs killed or hurt more than 1,000 civilians, while "decapitation" strikes aimed at Iraqi leaders killed dozens of noncombatants.

Cluster munitions are small bomblets scattered on a target area by larger bombs, rockets or artillery shells. Some of those bombs contain hundreds of smaller explosive devices, which can be designed to kill enemy troops or rip treads off tanks. They can be very dangerous close to civilian areas because they disperse widely.

A U.S. defense official said the use of cluster munitions was legal under international law. He said they were "carefully chosen for the intended objective and to mitigate unintended consequences."

U.S. and British forces used almost 13,000 cluster bombs, said the report, which was sourced to more than 200 interviews with victims and their families, Iraqi doctors, U.S. and British military personnel and others.

The report added that 50 strikes on Iraqi leaders -- the "decapitation strategy" -- failed to kill any of them. Instead, dozens of civilians were killed because of inadequate precision.

The "decapitation" strategy "also failed on human rights grounds," said Human Rights Watch Executive Director Kenneth Roth. "It's no good using a precise weapon if the target hasn't been located precisely."

A U.S. defense official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said in response that the strikes against Baghdad's command and control were "a legitimate use of military force. It was done with great care, and had the real potential to save lives on both sides by shortening the war."

IRAQI MILITARY VIOLATIONS

Human Rights Watch said Iraqi troops broke international humanitarian law by the use of human shields and abuse of the Red Cross and Red Crescent emblems.

Furthermore, the Iraq military used land mines and placed military objects in mosques and hospitals. The practice of Iraqi soldiers wearing civilian clothes blurred distinctions between civilians and combatants.

All of those tactics "may have led to significant civilian casualties," according to the report.

The exact number of Iraqi civilians killed is not known. As of Thursday, the Web site www.iraqbodycount.net has estimated between 7,935 and 9,766 civilians killed, based on incidents reported by at least two media sources.

The report said the failure of U.S. and British troops to secure weapons caches and ammunition abandoned by the Iraqi military "and the ready availability of these explosives also led to dozens of civilian casualties."

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