A/HRC/23/58 114. As armed factions in the Syrian Arab Republic proliferate, it is increasingly difficult to determine the perpetrators of such attacks. While these acts constitute crimes under domestic law, they may also amount to war crimes if it is determined that the perpetrators are parties to the conflict. B. 1. Specifically protected persons and objects Historic objects 115. On 13 April, the seventh century minaret of the Al-Omari mosque in Dara’a was destroyed. On 24 April, the twelfth century minaret at the Umayyad mosque in Aleppo collapsed, after being shelled. Government forces and anti-government armed groups traded blame. 116. Across the Syrian Arab Republic, historic monuments are being damaged and destroyed. No party to the conflict is abiding by its obligation to respect cultural property and to avoid causing damage to it in the context of military operations. Both government forces and anti-government armed groups have rendered sites open to attack by placing military objectives in them. 117. The army has established bases in the ancient citadels of Aleppo, Homs and Hama. Anti-government armed groups are based near the edges of the citadel in Aleppo, placing it at risk of further damage. In Maaret Al-Numan, in north-western Idlib, an armed group based itself in a seventeenth century caravan trading post, which had been a museum. Nearby artefacts were destroyed by shelling. 118. The Roman ruins of Bosra (Dara’a) have been damaged, as have ruins in the ancient desert city of Palmyra. The outer walls of the Krak des Chevaliers, a Crusader fortress in Homs, were marred by rocket fire. According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, five of the country’s six World Heritage sites have been damaged. 119. Looting, sometimes committed by parties to the conflict, has ravaged historic sites. Byzantine mosaics in the “dead cities” in the north and the Roman city of Apamea were removed. Interpol lists an Aramaic bronze statue dating back to the eighth century B.C. as having been stolen from the Hama museum. 2. Religious objects 120. On 17 January, the Kafr Nabudah mosque in Hama was shelled. The shelling of the Bilal mosque in Al-Habit (Idlib) on 27 January and 7 February followed. In the attack on 21 April against Jdeidat Al-Fadel (Damascus), government forces burned the mosque. Where attacks on the mosques had no military objective, the war crime of attacking protected objects was committed. 121. In early January, fighters from an anti-government armed group looted and destroyed Al-Husseiniya, a Shia religious centre in Al-Tabqah (Ar Raqqah). On 11 February, a nearby Orthodox church was looted and destroyed. Armed groups in Al-Tabqah committed the war crime of attacking protected objects. 3. Hospitals and medical personnel 122. The deliberate targeting of medical personnel and hospitals and the denial of medical access continue to be disturbing features of the conflict. 123. State and field hospitals in Jasem and Tafas (Dara’a), Adra (Damascus countryside); Hajar Al-Aswad and Yarmouk (Damascus), and Sha’ar and Ansari (Aleppo) have been 19