Phosphorus bomb

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The USS Alabama is hit by a phosphorus bomb during a test. The test was conducted by General Billy Mitchell in September 1921 .

A phosphorus bomb contains a mixture of white phosphorus and rubber and is used as an incendiary bomb and as a smoke warfare agent.

functionality

White phosphorus is the most reactive modification of phosphorus. It ignites itself through contact with the oxygen contained in the air ( pyrophoric ) and then burns with a flame at 1,300 degrees Celsius , producing a lot of white smoke ( phosphorus pentoxide ), which is harmful in large quantities. Even if phosphorus can be erased by water, it can ignite again and again after drying. Therefore you should use sand to extinguish burning phosphorus.

Other methods of using white phosphorus are fire platelets and fire canisters. The fire platelets consisted of celluloid cards provided with a hole, two cards being glued together with a piece of gauze in between. Moistened white phosphorus was applied to this gauze. The fire platelets were thrown off moist and ignited after drying out and were used to destroy grain harvests. Fire canisters contained white phosphorus dissolved in carbon disulfide (CS 2 ).

Effects on humans

In addition to the effects of fire and the injuries that are difficult to heal, which skin contact causes even with small amounts, white phosphorus and its vapors are highly toxic. Direct ingestion of 50 mg is fatal for an adult. Death only occurs after 5 to 10 days, the toxic effect is based on a disruption of protein and carbohydrate synthesis. With dermal exposure, i. H. over the skin, the risk is lower.

A person who has come into contact with phosphorus will try to knock out the burned areas. However, since phosphorus in incendiary bombs is mixed with a rubber gelatin, the viscous mass adheres to the hand that has not yet been burning and is thus distributed further. White phosphorus usually produces third-degree burns , some to the bone. Since these are usually extensive in an attack, those affected slowly die from their burns, unless they have died from inhalation of the toxic fumes, burns of the airways or intoxication .

International right

The use of incendiary weapons against civilians or in a way in which so-called " collateral damage " can easily occur is prohibited in accordance with the prohibition of indiscriminate attacks in the 1977 Additional Protocols to the Geneva Conventions of 1949 , but their use is not in general.

Israel and the US have not signed the relevant protocol. US use of phosphorus bombs occurred during the Iraq war . Israel dropped phosphorus bombs in the 2006 Lebanon War and January 2009 during Operation Cast Lead in the Gaza Strip, according to its own statement, to create an immediate fog.

It is controversial whether phosphorus bombs are to be regarded not only as incendiary weapons, but also as chemical weapons because of their toxicity ; their use would violate the Chemical Weapons Convention .

Other critics see in phosphorus bombs a violation of Article 36 of the First Additional Protocol, which prohibits “weapons, projectiles and materials, as well as methods of warfare” if they are “capable of causing unnecessary injury or suffering” or “are intended to be or by [they] can be expected to cause widespread, long-lasting and severe damage to the natural environment ”.

Mission history

Phosphorus bombs from World War II

Use of an AN-M47 phosphor bomb in 1966 in the Vietnam War

The fire and smoke effect of white phosphorus was discovered and used in weapons technology as early as the First World War , but white phosphorus was not used in incendiary bombs on a large scale until the Second World War . This took place both in the German incendiary bombs (e.g. the incendiary bombs C 50 A and C 250 A ) and in the British incendiary bombs due to the Area Bombing Directive . In the British INC 30 lb, for example, a small amount of phosphorus was used as a self-igniting element to ignite the actual fire material. In the British smoke bomb Bomb Smoke 100 lb (called "phosphor canister" by the civilian population because of its shape), which was used as an incendiary bomb when German cities were bombed, the 40 kg of phosphorus solution itself served as the incendiary material. The United States Army Air Forces mainly used the 45 kg heavy type AN-M47 phosphorus bomb .

Duds from such incendiary bombs are still a danger today, since the phosphorus ignites by itself when exposed and, for example, causes the discharge charge to explode. If phosphorus bombs were thrown incorrectly into the water, the phosphorus was released in many cases, but does not ignite underwater. It can only catch fire when it comes to the surface, for example in the rinsing line on the beach. At the Baltic Sea this leads to a special problem: because of its appearance, phosphorus is often mistaken for amber . During the Second World War, the Peenemünde Army Research Center , located in the north of the island of Usedom , was bombed several times. To this day, the remains of these phosphorus bombs cause severe burns, especially in the beach areas of Karlshagen , Trassenheide and Zinnowitz , when the alleged amber ignites after drying and sets the finder's clothes on fire. It is therefore recommended to pick up these finds only with pliers and not to transport them on the body, but in a glass with a screw cap.

In March 2017, around 200 people had to be evacuated in the Freimann district of Munich due to the clearance of an ammunition depot from World War II with around 10 tons of ordnance, including phosphorus ammunition .

US use of phosphorus grenades in the Iraq war

Nowadays, white phosphorus is used as incendiary material and in smoke grenades , as it can be used to quickly create large smoke screens. The Italian television broadcaster RaiNews24 revealed in November 2005 that the United States had used phosphorus incendiary weapons in the Second Iraq War . For example, in Fallujah, during Operation Phantom Fury, insurgents were driven from protected positions with WP grenades in order to be able to fight them with other weapons. According to the RAI, US forces also used a type of napalm and white phosphorus against civilians in Fallujah . The authors relied on statements by American soldiers who described scenes of the bodies of numerous civilians burned by phosphorus shells. This has been denied by the US State Department. The United States Army initially denied the use, but later admitted it. A GI reported that it had had to clean up the bodies of phosphorus weapon victims. The US did not sign the 1977 Additional Protocols to the 1949 Geneva Accords, which prohibit indiscriminate attacks. They justify the use of white phosphorus by stating that it is not used as a chemical weapon because of its toxicity, but as an incendiary device for a conventional weapon .

Use of phosphorus bombs by Israel

Lebanon War 2006

As officially confirmed in the meantime, the Israeli armed forces used phosphorus bombs against Hezbollah in the 2006 Lebanon war . Based on the pattern of injuries, doctors in Lebanon initially suspected the use of phosphorus bombs. However, the examination of particles from the wounds revealed a mixture of tungsten-copper-aluminum, which suggests the use of DIME bombs ( Dense Inert Metal Explosive ). Metal powders are generally self-igniting in air at room temperature ( pyrophoric ). The injury pattern is similar to that of the phosphorus bomb, but there is also a strong, directed impulse effect.

Operation Cast Lead 2009

In the wake of Operation Cast Lead in the Gaza Strip and phosphorus bombs were used. On January 15, 2009, the Israeli army is said to have fired at the headquarters of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) as well as a UN school in the al-Shati refugee camp with phosphorus shells; several thousand tons of food and medicines were destroyed. There have also been reports of many injuries from phosphorus bombs. A few days later, Israel confirmed the use of the phosphorus bombs in Gaza.

Civil war in Syria and Iraq

According to eyewitness reports, phosphorus bombs were used in Russian air strikes on November 13, 2015 in Raqqa . Based on the analysis of video recordings, Human Rights Watch also assumes that the Iraqi military also used phosphorus bombs to liberate Mosul in summer 2017.

Turkish military offensive in northern Syria 2019

According to various sources, the Turkish Armed Forces are using phosphorus bombs against the SDF in the autonomous Kurdish region of Rojava in northern Syria .

Web links

Commons : Weapons of White Phosphorus  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
Wiktionary: Phosphorus bomb  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Pyrotechnics, Explosives, & Fireworks . Retrieved July 2, 2019.
  2. ^ CCW Treaty: Protocol on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Incendiary Weapons (Protocol III). Geneva, 10 October 1980. (English), 28 August 2006.
  3. ↑ Israel is supposed to use phosphorus bombs in Gaza. In: dw-world.de. January 14, 2009, accessed April 3, 2015 .
  4. ↑ Israel admits using white phosphorous in attacks on Gaza - January 24, 2009. (No longer available online.) In: timesonline.co.uk. Archived from the original on May 11, 2011 ; accessed on April 3, 2015 .
  5. ↑ 'IDF white phosphorus use not illegal' . In: The Jerusalem Post , January 13, 2009. Retrieved March 24, 2010. 
  6. ↑ Residential houses in Munich cleared because of phosphorus ammunition. In: orf.at. March 17, 2017. Retrieved March 17, 2017 .
  7. ↑ US Army and British troops use phosphorus ( Memento from November 25, 2005 in the Internet Archive ) In: ZDFheute , November 16, 2005.
  8. ↑ Reuters, AP, DPA: Iraq: USA defend use of phosphorus. In: stern.de . November 17, 2005, accessed April 3, 2015 .
  9. ^ Israel admits using phosphorus bombs during was in Lebanon. In: Haaretz.com , October 22, 2006.
  10. ^ Dense Inert Metal Explosive (DIME) John Pike: Dense Inert Metal Explosive (DIME). In: globalsecurity.org. October 11, 2006, accessed April 3, 2015 .
  11. ^ Italian TV: Israel used new weapon prototype in Gaza Strip. (No longer available online.) In: haaretz.com. October 11, 2006, archived from the original on February 25, 2010 ; Retrieved April 3, 2015 .
  12. ↑ Israel uses controversial phosphorus bombs. In: Tages-Anzeiger , January 5, 2009.
  13. ↑ Gaza War: Israeli bomb hits UN school. In: Spiegel Online . January 6, 2009, accessed April 3, 2015 .
  14. ↑ Attack on the UN: They were phosphorus bombs. In: Tages-Anzeiger
  15. ↑ Israel admits using white phosphorous in attacks on Gaza ( Memento of May 11, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) In: The Times
  16. ↑ Adam Withnall: Chemical weapon white phosphorous 'is being used against Isis in air strikes'. In: independent.co.uk. November 23, 2015. Retrieved July 29, 2017 .
  17. ↑ Iraq to probe use of white phosphorus in Mosul. In: aljazeera.com. June 3, 2017. Retrieved July 29, 2017 .
  18. ↑ Elke Dangeleit: Use of Turkish phosphorus bombs in northern Syria proven. In: heise.de. Retrieved May 28, 2020 .