Oslo - A global ban was signed earlier today by government leaders from more than 100 states not to allow the use of cluster bombs.

The treaty, which was negotiated in Dublin in May, bans the production, use and trade of cluster munitions.

Cluster weapons - criticized for carrying a high risk of maiming or killing civilians - can be launched from the air or via artillery shells and can disperse hundreds of bomblets over a target area.

Children are often victims of the weapons since they sometimes mistake the so-called bomblets for toys.

Several non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and humanitarian groups have pushed for the ban grouped in the Cluster Munitions Coalition.

However, the world's largest producers and users of cluster bomb munitions - the US, Russia, China, Israel, India and Pakistan - are not signatories of the treaty.