Rights group says cluster bombs found

MOSCOW, Aug. 21 (UPI) -- A human rights group and journalists said they found two unexploded cluster bombs in Georgia, contradicting Moscow's claim it didn't use the munitions.

The find conflicts with Moscow's denial that cluster munitions were used when Russian forces began their incursion into Georgia two weeks ago, The New York Times reported Thursday.

Human Rights Watch earlier said its researchers found evidence that the munitions, which release hundreds of bomblets upon explosion, were part of the arsenal when Russian troops moved into Georgia following Georgia's military effort to rein in rebels in South Ossetia, a pro-Moscow province. Russia has denied using cluster bombs.

Reporters for the Times were present when a Human Rights Watch researcher found the unexploded munitions on the ground.

Reporters and photographers for the Times also found debris from SS-21 and BM-21 rockets, both of which can carry cluster munitions, in areas attacked by Russia, including the port city of Poti, as well as Gori and Variani.

Witnesses described bomblets detonating around them, said the Times, which also reported three impact craters in Gori could have been made by cluster bombs that exploded early in the war, killing several civilians and a Dutch journalist.