GENEVA, Switzerland, April 4 (UPI) -- Chad's accession to the Convention on Cluster Munitions shows there's growing concern about civilian safety, the International Committee of the Red Cross said.
Chad became the 80th party to a treaty that prevents the use, deployment or production of cluster munitions. Linh Schroeder, head of the ICRC delegation in Chad, said the aid group would help the government implement the treaty.
"This act reflects the importance that the Chadian government attaches to the suffering of the victims in the countries affected," she said.
Thursday marks the international day of mine awareness and mine action. The Cluster Munition Coalition said that, on average, 12 people are killed or maimed every day by such ordnance.
President of the European Parliament President Martin Schulz described cluster bombs as a type of indiscriminate weapon that targets both military and civilians.
"The fact that people are still dying because of mines is yet another dramatic reminder of the necessity to ban the use and production of mines in all parts of the world," he said in a statement.
He expressed concern about the use of munitions along Syrian borders, which left refugees fleeing civil war vulnerable.
