According to Caldicott, founder of the Nobel Peace Prize-winning Physicians for Social Responsibility, between 5% to 30% of these bomblets fail to explode initially.
"Many will die unknowingly for years to come from these evil killing contraptions," she said.
The Biden administration is sending cluster munitions, which have been outlawed by 108 countries, to Ukraine to be used against Russian forces with a number of US lawmakers and human rights activists opposing.
"Cluster bombs are, apart from DU [depleted uranium] weapons which cause cancer, genetic defects and birth deformities for the rest of time in the exposed population, the most hideous weapons ever devised, apart from nuclear weapons which incinerate millions of people and which could end life on earth. Take your pick on which you use," she said.
The weapons were expressly designed to cause indiscriminate loss of human life and hideous injuries over a wide area, regardless of who or what was being targeted, Caldicott explained.
"Each bomb is composed of 202 bomblets which are packed with razor sharp shrapnel dispersed at super-high speed over an area of 22 football fields ripping into human bodies. These weapons are prohibited by the Geneva Protocol," she said.
Caldicott said it is estimated that over 5,000 unexploded cluster bomblets may be littered across Afghanistan - this situation therefore could now be translocated to the Ukraine in the future.