The United States has abstained from voting on the first-ever resolution by the United Nations General Assembly on the treaty to ban cluster bombs.

Russia's military operation in Syria--which began 12 days ago--has seen a surge in the use of Russian-made cluster munitions and the first use of a sensor fuzed version of the weapon in the war.

Five years after the Convention on Cluster Munitions entered into force, it is widely viewed as a humanitarian disarmament success story. Yet United States remains on the sidelines as a non-signatory.

Civilians including a child have been wounded in cluster munition attacks in Yemen's Saada governorate as the Saudi Arabia-led coalition continues its offensive in the Houthi-controlled territory. Two of the three types of cluster munitions used in Saada are US-made.

Human Rights Watch has reported credible evidence that airstrikes in Yemen by Saudi-led coalition forces have used banned cluster munitions supplied by the United States