Not good. Not good at all. And odd too, isn’t it, how any mention of the purported use of such banned materiel or similar munitions on civilians during the devastation of Fallujah escapes mention in the article.

Taleban fighters have been using deadly white phosphorus munitions, some of them manufactured in Britain, to attack Western forces in Afghanistan, according to previously classified United States documents released yesterday.

[snip]

Although a full investigation is under way, it is not yet clear how the Taleban and other insurgent forces using them had acquired the white phosphorus munitions from Britain. However, Major Willis said that Afghanistan was littered with ordnance of every kind and it was not a surprise that the insurgents had got their hands on white phosphorus.

[snip]

Major Willis said that the use of white phosphorus in IEDs was a relatively new development. The earliest report of the insurgents using white phosphorus was in February 2003, but the eight known IED cases, including one in the south, have all occurred since March 2007. Source

It should be noted that some previous reports of announcements of identified ordnance markings have been credibly disputed or entirely retracted. That is not to deny this report, but to qualify it within the context of both the Iraq and Afghanistan mayhem.

The fog of war is dense indeed, but not totally impenetrable if there exists the will and the drive to thoroughly investigate, and by that not meaning only an institutional or in-service investigation, such as have been accomplished before.

…a March 14, 2009, incident in which an 8-year-old girl in Kapisa province was burned by white phosphorus munitions, Human Rights Watch said…. A NATO spokesperson has denied allegations from the girl’s father that NATO forces had fired the rounds that caused her injuries.

[snip]

NATO officials have said that according to their records, no rounds were found to have landed near the house, though have not denied using white phosphorus during this engagement.… Source