UN fears US bomblets resemble food packets

11.43am

UNITED NATIONS - The UN children's fund Unicef expressed concern today that Iraqi children might mistake yellow food packets being handed out by US-led forces with small bombs with identical colouring.

"Confusing unexploded ordinance with food places children at huge risk of injury or death," Unicef said, calling on the military to urgently change the colour of the food packets.

An Unicef statement said food packets known as "humanitarian daily rations" that were being handed out by the US and British forces in Iraq were wrapped in bright yellow plastic.

The colour of the wrapping was identical to that of an air-dropped bomblet that Unicef identified as a BLU 97.

A similar problem had arisen during the war in Afghanistan, where the US military eventually changed the wrapping on food packets to blue, the UN agency said.

In Afghanistan, both the food packets and the bomblets were dropped from US aircraft, while in Iraq only the bomblets were being air-dropped. But children can still confuse the ration and unexploded ordinance, because of their identical colouring, Unicef said.

The BLU 97 -- a canister containing 202 bomblets, each the size of a soda can -- has been used by US forces in Iraq against heavily populated civilian areas, according to human rights group Amnesty International.

The bomblets scatter over a large area about the size of two football fields, and at least 5 per cent of them fail to explode on impact, Amnesty International said.

The US military had no immediate comment.

- REUTERS

Herald Feature: Iraq war