A/HRC/27/60 and punishment. One armed group fighter stated that children caught performing reconnaissance for Government forces would be detained indefinitely as a security measure. International humanitarian and human rights law prohibits the use of children in combat and support roles. Conscripting or enlisting children under 15, including for support roles, is a war crime. 86. Schools across the Syrian Arab Republic have been converted to shelters for internally displaced persons. In several instances, such schools were attacked in government airstrikes, which caused extensive damage to their infrastructure.5 87. In Aleppo, Damascus and Dara’a, regular armed forces use schools for military purposes, depriving children of education and exposing educational facilities to attack. The Saleh Jemel primary school in Al-Sabeel (Aleppo) is used as a military barracks and firing post. The school and the surrounding area are regularly shelled. In May 2013, army tanks were positioned near a school in Beit Saber (Damascus). As a result, the school closed. Students in the area remain without educational alternatives. A girl from Dara’a city stated that most schools in Dara’a were no longer operational because they had been occupied by Government forces and surrounded by snipers. 88. Schools have increasingly come under fire during aerial bombardment campaigns in Dara’a and Aleppo.6 In January, Government forces shelled two schools in Dael (Dara’a). In April during the examination period for the second semester, Khawla Bint al-Azwar School in Al-Arbaeen neighbourhood in Dara’a city was hit by barrel bombs. In April and June, two aerial artillery attacks on primary schools in Dael and Namer (Dara’a) were recorded. Parents in Damascus, Aleppo and Dara’a stated they did not allow their children to attend classes because schools had become “too dangerous”. According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), more than half of Syrian school-age children, over 2.8 million, are out of school as a consequence of the occupation, destruction and insecurity of schools. 89. Protracted intense hostilities and bombardment have left a deep mark on children. Parents of children from Houlah (Homs) described how after three years of violence, “our children start shouting and hiding when they see an airplane”. Families that fled Zakiyeh (Damascus) in April relayed that, after surviving a period of continuous shelling, children were distressed by loud noises and experienced incontinence, anxiety and panic attacks. A man who fled Qudsaya (Damascus) in March stated that his children’s games were based on what they had witnessed and learned from the war. 2. Non-State armed groups (a) Anti-Government armed groups 90. Islamic Front-affiliated and other armed groups have recruited, trained and used children in active combat roles. Fighters operating in Aleppo governorate acknowledged that their ranks contained children under the age of 18. Younger members are assigned noncombat roles, such as those of guard and lookouts. Once children take on combat roles, they are “generally seen as adults”. A fighter who joined Amar ibn al-Aas Brigade in northern Aleppo at the age of 15 spoke of being given the task of cleaning weapons and of subsequently participating in combat. His 15-year-old cousin received weapons training from Jaish al Mujahideen in 2014. Another fighter in Aleppo explained that children who initially were not permitted to use guns, use them now as “children are not children 5 6 14 See annex IV. See annex IV.