Oslo - Government leaders from more than 100 states signed a global ban on the use of cluster bombs on Wednesday.

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. (dpa)