A/HRC/39/65 III. Protection of civilians 13. During the period under review, the proliferation of warring parties and the growing militarization led to an escalation of violence that affected several governorates countrywide. These battles not only critically exacerbated the protection of civilians, who continue to be affected by aerial and ground attacks, but also led to internal displacement of more than 1 million civilians, leaving many increasingly vulnerable in dire living conditions. Displacements were most often directly induced by the failure of warring parties to take all feasible precautions, as required by international humanitarian law, or by the unlawful conduct of parties that carried out indiscriminate and deliberate attacks, with little regard for civilian life. Aleppo governorate 14. The Turkish armed forces and allied FSA members launched Operation Olive Branch on 20 January. Aerial and ground operations lasted two months, and were mostly carried out in Afrin district, away from the city. By the time the Turkish armed forces and affiliated armed groups entered Afrin city in mid-March, Kurdish forces, in an effort to avoid urban warfare and spare the civilian population, had relinquished control. The majority of attacks to capture Afrin were therefore focused on the rural outskirts of the district, far from densely populated civilian areas. 15. In carrying out aerial attacks, the Turkish air force tended to employ sophisticated aircraft and precise munitions. The bulk of ground forces comprised FSA-affiliated armed groups from neighbouring territory within the Syrian Arab Republic, including Ahrar alSham, Faylaq al-Sham, Jaish al-Nukhba, Jaish al-Sharqiya, Jabhat al-Shamiya and Nur alDin al-Zinki. With some exceptions, ground forces were outfitted and armed as light infantry. In contrast, Turkish units were heavily armoured, deploying tanks, light personnel carriers and several types of artillery. 16. Opposing them were YPG forces, which were armed predominantly as light infantry. During February, smaller numbers of pro-government forces attempted to enter Afrin in support of Kurdish forces, but were halted by Turkish artillery strikes. On 18 March, Turkish forces declared Afrin city officially captured. 17. The Commission obtained preliminary information from the Turkish authorities concerning several incidents mentioned below. At the time of writing, a response to a request made by the Commission for further clarification on specific incidents had not been received, although a general note was received (annex III). Some aerial and ground attacks caused damage to civilian and specially protected objects in Aleppo governorate, including medical facilities, a market and homes. Before Operation Olive Branch, on 18 January, at approximately 11.30 p.m., a psychiatric hospital in Azaz, the only mental health hospital operating outside of government control and housing 157 long-term patients, was shelled by Kurdish forces based south-west of the area damaging its female section. Eleven women sustained injuries, and one woman subsequently died. 18. The brunt of hostilities in north-west Syrian Arab Republic was, however, borne primarily by the more than 320,000 civilians residing in Afrin district at the time of Operation Olive Branch. On 21 January, at approximately 1 p.m., several air strikes carried out by the Turkish air force hit a poultry farm between Jalbul and Maryamin. The attacks killed at least 11 civilians, including four farmhands, and a woman and her six children displaced from Idlib a few weeks earlier, and injured another seven people. The Commission reviewed information on what appeared to have been trenches along the northern side of the farm, indicating their possible use for military purposes. 19. Also on 21 January, bombardments hit the Tell Ain Dara archaeological site, less than 2 km from Ain Dara village and 10 km from Afrin city. The attack damaged the site protected by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), including the entrance and the main hall. While the Government of Turkey denied responsibility for the attack, the Syrian Ministry of Culture blamed it for the 5