Under the title "Terrifying Incident Threatens an Iraqi City... The Theft of 100 Cluster Bombs," Sky News reported that a worrying incident in southern Iraq occurred when street vendors, on Wednesday, stole a container that housed more than 100 cluster bombs intended for destruction, mistakenly believing it was empty. Street vendors operate in various Iraqi provinces, working in this trade for years, and sustain themselves by selling scrap metal to recycling facilities.
Abbas Maher, the mayor of the Al-Zubair district, stated in a press release that "relevant authorities periodically gather war remnants to prepare and detonate them later, and during that time there were about 10 empty containers, except for one that contained more than 100 cluster bombs." He added that "some street vendors stole the container with the cluster bombs that were supposed to be detonated in the southern Rumaila desert," pointing out that "the vendors thought those containers were empty and moved them to an unknown location."
He confirmed that "these vendors roam factories and deserts to collect scrap metal for sale without realizing the danger of this act." Additionally, a security source mentioned that "local police in the province received a call to be on high alert in the coming hours, in anticipation of a disaster due to the unsafe storage of these bombs, which could lead to a humanitarian catastrophe."
The source, who asked to remain anonymous for "Sky News Arabia," noted that "surrounding cities witnessed a heavy presence and thorough searches of vehicles in search of the street vendors, in addition to public announcements through local media and communication channels, seeking to reach them." No comment has been issued by the security forces regarding the incident as citizens of the city expressed concerns about a catastrophe arising from the ignorant detonation of these bombs by the vendors or their lack of knowledge on how to safely report to the official authorities, or their fear of being accused and pursued legally.
