The Independent

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/story.jsp?story=101309
UN in warning over US cluster bombs

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asia_china/story.jsp?story=101306
Families blown apart, infants dying. The terrible images of this 'just
war' damage


Guardian 25/10/2001

The United Nations said yesterday that US bombs struck a mosque in a military compound and a nearby village during raids on the western Afghan city of Herat this week, according to the French news agency AFP.

UN spokeswoman Stephanie Bunker said independent reports from Herat indicated the mosque was in the same compound as a military hospital which was bombed on Monday night.

[...]

Landmine Action, which campaigns against cluster bombs as well as mines yesterday condemned their use in Afghanistan. 

"The unexploded bomblets effectively turn into landmines, ready to detonate on contact, causing death and injury to civilians and ground
forces", said Richard Lloyd, the campaign group's director. 

"As many are bright yellow and the size of a drinks can, they are particularly attractive to children. 

"In Kosovo, Nato cluster bombs were estimated to have killed or injured 200 people in the first 12 months after the bombing," he said. 

"It's appalling that, despite the well-known problems with these weapons, the US is still dropping them on Afghanistan from planes based
in UK territory," Mr Lloyd added in a reference to the US base on the British Indian Ocean territory of Diego Garcia. 

The United States vowed yesterday to continue bombing targets around the clock despite claims that Taliban units were deliberately
sheltering near civilians to exploit propaganda windfalls when women and children were hit. 

US cluster bombing provokes anger 
 'Bomblets' spread after mosque hit 

Richard Norton-Taylor, and Rory Carroll in Quetta
Thursday October 25, 2001


The priority of the anti-war group at Westminster is to rally support among Labour activists in constituencies, so that an increasingly
significant anti-war movement is not dominated by churches, pressure groups such as CND and far-left fringe parties. 

Alan Simpson, MP for Nottingham South, who organised last night's anti-war meeting, stressed five key aims to unite diverse opinions: 

·: Unequivocal condemnation of the September 11 attacks on Washington and New York; 

·: Belief that military action against Afghanistan will not rid the world of the terrorist threat or create a stable international framework; 

·: Opposition to British involvement in the bombing, and support for alternative methods of defeating terrorism, including aid; 

·: Opposition to any clampdown on civil liberties or the right to asylum in the name of the fight against terrorism; 

·: Commitment to work for these objectives in the Labour party and union movement. 

Anti-war MPs force Blair and Short on to defensive 

Party leftwingers launch Labour Against the War group, but development secretary declares: 'We must not wobble'

Michael White and Patrick Wintour
Thursday October 25, 2001
The Guardian