Campaigners in the US will call on Monday for a congressional ban on cluster bombs.

The civilian victims of cluster bombs will be highlighted as part of a Global Day of Action that includes activities in 20 countries.

The Vatican’s permanent observer to the United Nations called for a moratorium on ‘cluster bombs’ in 2006.

In September this year – the tenth anniversary of the adoption of the Mine Ban Treaty – the Methodist Church, the United Reformed Church and the Baptist Union of Great Britain called on the UK Government to end the use of cluster bombs by UK forces.

Cluster munitions pose a danger to civilians during and after conflict. When used, they scatter over wide swaths of land. After use, malfunctioning bomblets become de facto landmines.

In the last 10 years, the US has used cluster bombs in civilian-populated areas of the former Yugoslavia, Afghanistan and Iraq.

The US arsenal includes nearly 1 billion bomblets.