Unexploded Russian-manufactured cluster bomblets have been found in the village of Tadjmart in northern Mali (a landlocked West African country in the grip of a civil war since 2012), following airstrikes announced by the Malian Armed Forces on 17 May — despite Mali being a signatory to the Convention on Cluster Munitions, which bans their use. Investigators geolocated video footage showing ShOAB-0.5 submunitions, a type carried by Russian RBK-500 dispensers, near buildings and small craters consistent with bomblet impacts. The findings raise serious legal and humanitarian concerns, as Mali is obligated under the convention not only to refrain from using such weapons but also to clear them from its territory; Russia's Africa Corps paramilitary group, which has been supporting Malian military operations, is not a party to the same treaty.