Army insists cluster bombs were not used

10 Apr, 2011
Bangkok Post

MILITARY BARS USE OF MUNITIONS AT CENTRE OF SCANDAL

The army has suspended the use of the M198 shell used with 155mm towed artillery, following allegations that cluster bombs were employed in border clashes with Cambodia in early February.

The army, however, insisted this type of shell was not classified as a cluster bomb, despite some similarities.

The army has suspended the use of M198 shells and the French-made Caesar self-propelled howitzer since late February after Cambodian soldiers complained to the United Nations that Thai troops had used cluster bombs during clashes on Feb 4-6, said an army source.

Cambodian soldiers had collected samples of what they believed to be cluster bombs and showed them to the UN, said the source.

The Caesar self-propelled howitzer is usually used with "cargo" rounds that burst in the air into groups of multiple bomblets, but unlike the cluster bomb, these bomblets immediately explode on impact, said the source.

The cluster bomb is a munition that bursts into bomblets after being launched and these bomblets often lie dormant and could later explode, maiming or killing people or animals who happen upon it, the source said.

The army at first denied using a cluster bomb because it thought the term referred only to those dropped from aircraft, but the definition also covers ones fired from the ground if they later burst into multiple bomblets, said the source.

"But because some bomblets were duds, the Cambodian soldiers collected them as evidence to falsely accuse the Thai troops of using a cluster bomb," said the source.

"This claim is untrue because those bomblets automatically destroy themselves, otherwise the Cambodian troops would have been able to collect a far greater number of samples," said the source.

Normally, only a division commander would have had the authority to order the use of the artillery and its ammunition but at that moment the Thai troops had to respond immediately to the Cambodians' attacks to protect people living near the border, said the source.

"After that, a new order was issued that a request to use the artillery and its ammunition must be approved by the army chief first," the source said.

The Thai troops did not care if the weapons they used were cluster bombs, they just had to respond promptly as the Cambodians attacked Thai border villagers with artillery shells and BM-21 multiple rockets, the source said.

Army chief Gen Prayuth Chan-ocha had already received a report about the M198 ammunition matter but his decision on whether the army should admit to using cluster bombs or keep denying it remained unknown, said the source.

In any case, Thailand was not among the countries that have signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions, banning their use, said the source.

Therefore, the source said, even if the Thai troops had used cluster bombs in the border clashes with Cambodia, it would not have contravened any agreement or broken any law.

The Cluster Munition Coalition (CMC) last week said the Thai ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva confirmed Thailand's use of 155mm Dual Purpose Improved Conventional Munition (DPICM) cluster munitions at a meeting on Tuesday.

But Sihasak Phuangketkeow later denied that he said the Thai army used cluster munitions during the Thai-Cambodian border skirmish.

Mr Sihasak claimed he said the Thai army had actually used 155mm DPICMs, which it did not classify as cluster munitions.

He said the CMC misunderstood Thailand and was trying to pressure the country to accede to the Convention of Cluster Munitions.