OSLO (AFP) -- Like land mines, cluster munitions are deadly not only during conflicts but also for years after they have ended. But although they kill and maim over long periods, and primarily claim civilian lives, cluster munitions have so far been neither banned nor regulated by an international treaty.

Following the summer 2006 war with Israel, South Lebanon was carpeted with millions of unexploded bomblets, most dropped during the last days of the conflict when a cessation of hostilities was in the offing.
The following are a few basic facts about the weapons, ahead of the signature today by around 100 countries of an international treaty on banning cluster munitions:
What they are: A category of ordnance - dropped from planes or fired from artillery via a shell, missile or rocket. Cluster bombs spread hundreds of tiny sub-munitions, or ""bomblets,"" over a wide area.
As many of these devices fail to explode on impact, countries often have a difficult job clearing their territory of what become de facto land mines.
Military uses: Their military uses are various, ranging from killing enemy soldiers to pitting airstrip runways with craters or simply making territory unpassable for ground troops.
The first major use of cluster bombs was during World War II, when they were widely used by both sides.
In recent years the weapons have notably been used by the United States in Iraq and Afghanistan and by Israel, which scattered South Lebanon with an estimated 4 million bomblets during its summer 2006 war on Lebanon.
Why they are controversial: Like most bombs and shells, cluster munitions make no distinction between civilians and soldiers within their range of action, which can spread over several hundred meters.
Groups opposed to cluster bombs say that between five and 40 percent of the bomblets spread by a typical warhead fail to explode on impact, and can remain hidden for years after a conflict has ended.
In such cases, they have the same effect as mines, making farmland unusable and causing long-term danger for civilians.
Furthermore, many bomblets are brightly colored, attracting children and exploding when they are picked up.
Civilians are still being killed by both land mines and cluster munitions used during the Vietnam War, as well as those from more recent conflicts in the Middle East, Africa, the former Yugoslavia, central Asia and other regions.
Casualties According to the non-governmental group Handicap International, more than 100,000 people are known to have been killed or maimed by cluster bombs around the world since 1965. Almost all victims - 98 percent - are civilians, and around 27 percent are children, the group says. According to the same group at least 440 million bomblets have been dispersed in the world since 1965. The lion's share, around 383 million, were dropped on Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia.
Ban: Representatives of around 100 countries, including Britain and France, are to meet in Oslo on December 3 to formally sign a treaty banning all cluster bombs.
The treaty was agreed in Dublin in May, but it was weakened by the absence of the largest producers of the fragmentation bomblets, including the US, Russia, China and Israel.
The convention outlaws the use, production, transfer and stockpiling of cluster munitions.
Activists say that despite the lack of support from key countries, it is having an effect on limiting the use of the weapon even by non-signatory countries.