A/HRC/22/59 79. The protracted and widespread shelling of Rastan and Talbiseh was conducted in an indiscriminate manner, in violation of the law of armed conflict. Deir Baalbeh 80. In the course of confrontations between anti-Government armed groups and Government forces in Deir Baalbeh, the area was subjected to heavy shelling. Interviewees who had witnessed or been victims of the confrontations reported that shelling intensified between late October and December, and that on 26 December, after armed groups conducted an operation on Ishara Military base and a prominent member of the military police from Deir Baalbeh defected, Deir Baalbeh was subjected to “the worst shelling since the start of events, with missiles and mortars,” throughout the night. The heavy and concerted shelling was followed by a ground operation, examined in full in the section on massacres. 81. There are reasonable grounds to believe that the heavy, protracted and widespread shelling of Deir Baalbeh is indicative of a planned operation that was indiscriminate and in violation of international humanitarian law. H. Al-Hasakah governorate 82. There are corroborated witness and victim accounts of the aerial bombardment of Hay Al-Horanah, Ras Al-Ayn on 12 November. Hay Al-Horanah was attacked at around 15:00, the aerial bombardment destroying around 35 houses in a residential area of the town, killing and injuring civilians. There are reasonable grounds to believe that the attack on Hay Al-Horanah was conducted in a manner that failed to take feasible precautions to avoid the incidental loss of civilian life, injury and destruction of civilian property. I. Latakia governorate 83. Eight interviewees provided a detailed picture of the indiscriminate shelling of Turkmen villages from nearby Government bases, set up in predominantly Alawite enclaves. A consistent pattern emerged from the accounts of the interviewees. Once the FSA or other anti-Government armed groups gain control of a village, Government forces begin heavy shelling, often dropping “barrel bombs” on residential areas both during the day and at night (see A/HRC/22/59, annex II). The shelling of towns was so regular and consistent that residents were able to identify the bases from which the mortar and artillery shells were being fired. Interviewees consistently identified the Syrian military stationed in Ras Al-Basit as the source of indiscriminate shelling. 84. The protracted and regular bombardment of cities and densely populated civilian areas, without the taking of feasible precautions, is in violation of principles of international humanitarian law. Al-Khadra 85. There were several reports of heavy shelling on Al-Khadra, a majority Turkmen village near the Syrian-Turkish border. According to an interviewee to an attack in late July, around 06:00, the village was hit by shelling, which appears to have been directed at the village indiscriminately. 86. In late August, Government forces began shelling Al-Khadra at 06:30. Witnesses to the shelling relayed accounts of civilians decapitated and severely injured by shrapnel from 100 GE.13-10627