Prime minister says UK discourages use of cluster bombs

The UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak says the country "discourages" the use of cluster bombs.

This comes after the US agrees to supply them to Ukraine.

Cluster bombs are banned by more than 120 countries, because of how dangerous they can be to civilians including children.

Civilians are people in countries affected by war who don't have anything to do with the fighting.

On Friday 7 July, the US president Joe Biden said he made a "very difficult decision" to supply them to Ukraine.

In response, the UK, Canada, New Zealand and Spain all said they were against their use.

Cluster bombs are weapons which can be launched from the ground or air.

Large missiles are fired which break apart, releasing smaller bomblets.

These scatter over a wide area and are meant to detonate on impact.

But a large number of these bomblets often fail to explode when they land.

Cluster bombs are banned by more than 100 countries - the main reason being the danger they pose to people not involved in fighting.

When the tiny bomblets are released they can spread over such a wide area, it means you can't be sure where they are going to land.

They are designed to explode on impact, but a lot of the time this doesn't happen, which can result in these explosives being left on the ground for years, which can then detonate at any time.

Human rights groups have described cluster bombs as "abhorrent" and even a war crime.

Russia has also condemned the use of cluster bombs but has been accused of using them in built-up areas, where lots of people live during the war so far.

Ukraine has used cluster bombs during the fighting too.

The person overseeing Ukraine's defence has said that cluster bombs would not be used in urban areas.

The US, UK and Germany have all given tanks and ammunition to Ukraine.

Ukraine's forces are running low on ammunition, largely because, its allies cannot replace them at the speed they are needed.

More than 100 countries have signed an agreement banning the use of cluster bombs, but the US, Ukraine and Russia have not.

The US president Joe Biden has defended his "very difficult decision" to give the weapons to Ukraine because "the Ukrainians are running out of ammunition".

However, Frank Gardner who is the BBC security correspondent says "cluster munitions are a hideous, indiscriminate weapon that is banned in much of the world for good reason".