A/HRC/37/72 12. In the latter half of 2017, pro-Government forces began a concerted campaign to decimate schools throughout Aleppo countryside, which were located in a militarily strategic area leading up to Abu al-Duhur airbase (Idlib) and the railway connecting Aleppo and Damascus. On 26 September, at approximately 12:30 p.m., about 15 minutes after all children had been dismissed from classes, pro-Government forces launched a series of airstrikes against Tanatya school in Knater village, Atarib, where nearly 4,000 civilians reside. Up to 11 aerial attacks were carried out over the span of one hour, striking Tanatya school and the surrounding residential area. Tanatya school teaches children in grades 1 to 9 in two buildings, though one was completely damaged as a result of the attack. Students, many of them severely traumatised, have since been relocated to the remaining building. 13. The next day, on 27 September at 2:00 a.m., pro-Government forces carried out an aerial attack against the Baraem al-Thawra school in Batbo village (Aleppo). As an all-girl school, Baraem al-Thawra teaches hundreds of female students in grades 1 to 9. No civilian casualties occurred as the attack took place after midnight. The school included six classrooms, four of which were completely damaged. One individual who went to assess the damage described how a “missile” had entered through the roof and caused a crater two metres in depth. The attack led to the near-complete destruction of the school, rendering it completely out of service. Windows of nearby homes were also shattered by the blasts. A non-governmental organisation and a Free Syrian police station engaging solely in civilian matters are located near the site of Baraem al-Thawra school. 14. On the night of 6 November, at approximately 9 p.m., pro-Government forces attacked the Tel Aldaman secondary school in Monbetah village (Aleppo). Prior to the attack, approximately 200 students, aged six to 16 years, attended the school, which was located on a compound that further comprised a training centre for teachers. Witnesses described how the attack rendered the school and training centre completely out of service, and how this and similar attacks have crippled both students and their families with fear; of the village’s 200,000 original inhabitants, only approximately 10,000 remain. The premises of the school were reportedly attacked again in an airstrike carried out ten days later. 15. Pro-Government forces further carried out at least five separate aerial attacks against three schools in Aleppo in December. On 4 December, in Sumeiryya village, 45 kilometres south of Aleppo city, pro-Government forces attacked the eastern and western schools in Has compound shortly after 9:00 a.m. Images of the aftermath show remnants of an RBK250 cluster bomb containing sub-munitions. No students were present during the attack, though approximately 30 teachers had gathered to collect their salaries. It is unclear whether pro-Government forces were aware of the presence of civilians at that time, as the announcement for salary collections was transmitted to teachers digitally the day prior. One female teacher and two male teachers sustained minor injuries. The use of cluster munitions in civilian populated areas is inherently indiscriminate (given their typically wide dispersal pattern and high dud rate, which continues to endanger civilians years after a cessation of hostilities), and therefore prohibited by customary international humanitarian law. For this reason, their use by pro-Government forces in Sumeiryya village constitutes the war crime of indiscriminate attacks in a civilian populated area. 16. On 6 and 7 December, pro-Government forces launched an aerial attack on Bayaiya primary school in Tel Aldaman. Airstrikes were carried out at 11:00 p.m., and again shortly after midnight the following day. More than 150 children in grades 1 through 6 attend Bayaiya primary school. The school further hosted an internally displaced husband and wife couple, though neither was injured. The building sustained physical damage, though continues to operate. 17. Similarly, on 9 December, at 9:20 a.m., airstrikes carried out by pro-Government forces hit a private school in al-Hanouteh village (Aleppo). Unlike the foregoing attacks, children were present on the morning of the attack, and a few children were mildly injured as a result. The school was partially damaged, and reportedly attacked again in an airstrike at 3:00 a.m. the following morning. 18. Repeated bombardments, lack of warnings, and the absence of military objectives in and around all schools strongly suggest pro-Government forces intentionally targeted them as part of a strategy to force dissenting communities to leave by rendering their 34