Since refugees returned to Kosovo in June, more than 100 people have died in mine and bomb accidents, and hundreds have been wounded. An estimated 40 percent have been the victims of cluster bombs.

One cluster bomb releases up to 200 bomblets that scatter over a wide area and should explode on impact. But explosives experts have found that there is a high failure rate, as high as 20 percent in some areas, and the bombs lie on the surface or often dig into the earth. Children and farmers often find the bright-colored, shuttlecock-shaped bombs.

NATO did not provide detailed information on the airstrikes that dropped 1,392 cluster bombs on Kosovo until two weeks ago, nearly a year after the conflict ended, said John Flanagan, program manager of the United Nations Mine Action Coordination Center. It coordinates civilian organizations clearing mines and unexploded ordinance across Kosovo.

"It was definitely frustrating," Mr. Flanagan said. "Ten months after the conflict finished, we are just getting to grips with the information, and it shouldn't be like that."

Teams that search for unexploded mines have been able to mark only 60 to 70 percent of the cluster bomb sites so far. That much could have been accomplished earlier if the teams had the information on the airstrikes, he said.

The NATO-led peacekeeping force in Kosovo has also failed to meet its commitments to survey and mark the bombed areas, he said. "It became clear that we did not have all the information, and the marking was not done," Mr. Flanagan said. "Sometimes the first we knew of a strike area was when there was a casualty."

Another sore topic has been whether depleted-uranium munitions were used in the air campaign in Kosovo. NATO finally admitted in February that such munitions were used. Last week the United Nations secretary general, Kofi Annan, wrote to the NATO secretary general, George Robertson, asking for detailed maps showing where those strikes were made in Kosovo.

Mr. Annan asked for precise areas of the strikes and for assistance to undertake "systematic radiation measurements and sampling." He also asked for help in preventing damage from the munitions.

While there is some debate about the danger of depleted-uranium debris, there is no doubt about the danger of cluster bombs, which has shocked both peacekeeping soldiers and civilians working to render the mines harmless. "Cluster bombs almost always cause multiple casualties, and it is nearly always young people who get injured," Mr. Flanagan said. "We did not anticipate the number of them used and their attractiveness to kids."

Refugees in the camps were not warned of the dangers of cluster bombs, he added, and even soldiers under the NATO command were not always well-informed. In the 10 1/2 months before April this year, there were 478 casualties in Kosovo from mines or bombs, and 100 of them were fatalities, Mr. Flanagan said. With the arrival of spring, the casualty figure has climbed again, to 15 casualties in April. Four teams are concentrating on clearing cluster bombs and hope to clear the 333 known sites of bomblets this year.

But the bomblets from a single bomb can scatter over a large area. When he applied directly to the United States military, Mr. Flanagan said, he finally received vital details like the direction of attack of the plane and wind conditions.

He blames the structure of NATO and of the peacekeeping force as much as anything for the delay and lack of help. Under their mandate, peacekeepers have restricted themselves to clearance they judged essential to their mission, and they have left the mine clearance to civilian teams financed by the United Nations.

"A lot of work was done, and then there was a line drawn in the sand," Mr. Flanagan said, alluding to the fact that many military explosives experts were pulled out, even while cluster bomb sites remained unmapped and uncleared. "They could have made a significant dent in the situation."

Copyright 2000 The New York Times Company

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