UK Vacuum Bombs in Afghanistan
IslamOnline.net & Newspapers
CAIRO — Britain has used and will continue to use one of the world's most
brutal weapons, which creates a pressure wave that sucks the air out of
victims, shreds their internal organs and crushes their bodies, in Afghanistan,
The Sunday Times reported on June 22.
"We are conscious of the controversial aspects [of this weapon] but it is
being used sparingly and under strict circumstances where it is deemed
appropriate by the commander on the ground," confirmed the Ministry of Defense
(MoD).
It has decided to equip British helicopters in Afghanistan with the
Hellfire AGM-114N missiles early 2008 after repeated complaints from pilots
against the ineffectiveness of normal weapons in the fight against Taliban.
The MoD admitted to using the thermobaric weapon, also known as vacuum
bombs, on several occasions, including against a cave complex.
It has decided to extend the use of the weapon to be fired by unmanned
drones, added the spokesman.
The laser-guided missile has a warhead packed with fluorinated aluminum
powder surrounding a small charge.
When the missile hits the target, the charge disperses aluminum powder
throughout the target building.
The cloud then ignites, causing a massive secondary blast that tears
throughout any enclosed space.
The blast creates a vacuum which draws air and debris back in, creating
pressure of up to 430lb per sq.
The cloud of burning aluminum powder means victims often die from
asphyxiation before the pressure shreds their organs.
Thermobaric weapons were first combat-tested by the Soviet Union in
Afghanistan in the 1980s and used by Russian forces against Chechen civilians
in the 1990s.
According to The Sunday Times, American Apache pilots used the
thermobaric Hellfire in Iraq.
Hypocrisy
Human Rights Watch has condemned and called for a ban on using
thermobaric weapons worldwide.
The New York-based group describes them as "particularly brutal" and that
their blast "makes it virtually impossible for civilians to take shelter."
However, the British government decided to go around the ethical problem
by secretly redefining them.
"We no longer accept the term thermobaric [for the AGM-114N] as there is
no internationally agreed definition," said an MoD spokesman.
"We call it an enhanced blast weapon."
But British MPs denounced the government for its secret decision to use
the lethal weapon.
"It is staggering the MoD has added these weapons to Britain's arsenal in
cloak-and-dagger secrecy," said Nick Harvey, the Liberal Democrat defense
spokesman.
"Parliament has never assented to their use," he said, accusing the
government of hypocrisy.
"(Prime Minister) Gordon Brown claimed the moral high ground when Britain
supported a ban on cluster munitions but leaving a loophole for these weapons
casts a different picture on the true position."
