Why US wan send banned bombs go Ukraine?

Di US don announce say e dey comply with one Ukrainian request to supply am with controversial cluster munitions.

Di move go likely to draw intense criticism from human rights groups as di weapon dey banned by more dan 100 countries.

Ukraine don dey ask for di weapons for months as dem dey run short of ammunition.

Di Biden administration dey expected to announce di package on Friday, di BBC US partner CBS News report.

According to reports, US officials bin no wan supply Ukraine wit cluster munitions as dem fit kill anyhow ova wide area, and go threaten civilians.

America get plenty of these cluster bombs, wey dem first develope during World War II.

Wetin be cluster munitions?

Cluster munitions na one method of dispersing large numbers of tiny bomblets from a rocket, missile or artillery shell wey go scatters them for mid-flight over a wide area.

Dem dey intended to explode on impact but a significant proportion no go explode initially - dis eey happen especially if dem land on wet or soft ground.

Dem fit den explode at a later date on being picked up or trodden on, killing or maiming di victim.

From one military perspective,dem fit dey horribly effective when used against dug-in ground troops for trenches and positions wey dey fortified, and dem go render large areas too dangerous to move around in until carefully e dey cleared.

Why more dan 100 kontris ban di use of di weapon

Di weapons dey controversial sake of dia high failure rates, dis one mean say di bomblets wey neva explode fit remain for ground for years and possibly explode later.

America law forbid di transfer of cluster munitions wit bomblet failure rates wey dey higher dan 1% - dis one mean say than 1% of di bomblets for di weapon no dey explode - but President Joe Biden fit bypass dis rule.

Defence Department officials tell tori pipo on Thursday say di Biden administration dey reason to send cluster munitions wey get failure rate wey low pass 2.35% go Ukraine.

Di Pentagon note say Russia don already begin dey use cluster bombs for Ukraine wey even get higher failure rates.

One United Nations investigation discover say Ukraine sef fit don use am, although di kontri don deny say dem use am.

Officials dey plan to send artillery shells go Ukraine, each of dem go contain 88 separate bomblets, according to US media reports.

Dem go fire di bombs from di Howitzer artillery weapons wey di Ukrainian army don already deploy.

Di aid package go also includes Bradley and Stryker fighting vehicles, air defence missiles and anti-mine equipment, officials tell tori pipo.

Who still dey use dem?

Both Russia and Ukraine don dey use cluster munitions since di start of Russia's full-scale invasion for February 2022.

Neither don sign di treaty wey ban dem. US also never do, but e don previously criticise Russia's extensive use of di weapon.

Russian cluster munitions reportedly get "dud rate" of 40%, meaning large numbers remain dangerous on di ground, whereas di average dud rate dey believed to be close to 20%.

Di Pentagon estimate im own cluster bomblets get dud rate of less dan 3%.

Why Ukraine dey ask for them?

Ukraine forces dey run desperately low on artillery shells, largely because, like di Russians, dem don use dem up for one extraordinarily high rate and Ukraine Western allies no fit replace dem at di rate dem need dem.

For di largely static, grinding battlefronts of southern and eastern Ukraine, artillery don become one key weapon.

Di Ukrainians now face a daunting task in trying to dislodge di invading Russians from dia well dug-in defensive positions stretched along a 1,000km (621-mile) battlefront.

As artillery shells no too dey, Ukraine don ask di US to re-stock im supplies of cluster munitions to target di Russian infantry manning all those defensive trenches.

Dis no be easy decision for Washington, and e dey deeply unpopular with many Democrats and human rights advocates. Di debate don dey go on for at least six months.

UN, Human rights groups kick against di move

Human rights groups don beg Russia and Ukraine say make dem no use cluster munitions and don ask America say make e no supply di weapons.

For inside one statement on Friday, di Office of di United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights bin once again say make di kontris no use cluster bombs, as e argue say e dey dangerous.

"Cluster munitions dey scatter small bomblets over a wide area, many of dem no dey explode immediately," di office spokesperson Marta Hurtado tok. "Dem fit kill and injure pipo years later. Dat na why di use suppose stop immediately."

Some US lawmakers don also tell Biden administration say make dem no send di weapons, dem argue say dia humanitarian costs outweigh dia benefits for di battlefield.

Defence Department official Laura Cooper tell Congress last month say military analysts don discover say di cluster bombs go dey "useful, especially against dug-in Russian positions".

Di Biden administration new weapons package dey worth $800 million (£626.5m), CBS News report.