A/HRC/22/59 72. The indiscriminate firing on civilian targets is a violation of international humanitarian law. The firing on civilian targets has been adjudicated as a violation of the principle of distinction inherent within the law of armed conflict. The commission was unable to ascertain whether the attack on the Alfourn Albalai (Baladi Bakery) in Halfaya was targeted at a military objective. However, there were reasonable grounds to believe, that in the context of the protracted campaign of shelling on Halfaya, in conducting the attack, Syrian armed forces were in violation of their obligation under international humanitarian law to take all feasible precautions. In addition, the firing of four rockets on a concentrated gathering of around 1000 people suggests that the attack caused excessive incidental death and injury to civilians and was disproportionate to the overall military advantage of the attack. The sequence of the attack, with all four rockets hitting the bakery, indicates that it was the target of a deliberate attack. 73. Following the attack on Tremseh on 12 July, residents of Tremseh said that the Air Force has continued to shell the town twice a week, forcing civilians to leave the town to nearby villages. G. Homs governorate 74. There were multiple accounts throughout Homs governorate, of civilian deaths from sniper fire. An interviewee from the town of Telkalakh noted that between November and December, most injuries of civilians were as a result of sniper fire, “Which targets mostly civilians as FSA fighters operate at night.” Al-Qusayr 75. After anti-Government armed groups took control of Al-Qusayr, the town has been subject to daily shelling, which is on-going. The armed groups occupy residential homes in the town, located in the midst of civilians and civilian objects. According to a former resident of Al-Qusayr, armed groups keep their locations secret to avoid being targeted and locate themselves within civilian areas in order to “protect civilians from attack.” One interviewee, who provided humanitarian assistance in Al-Qusayr, was injured by shrapnel in late October while transporting victims of shelling from the site of the attack to a field hospital. Al-Qusayr remains the site of regular confrontations between Government forces and anti-Government armed groups. 76. Throughout December, Shoumarieh and Baida villages in Al-Qusayr were daily bombarded with “barrel bombs.” 77. The presence of anti-Government armed groups within civilian areas violates the obligation under international humanitarian law for parties to the conflict to avoid locating military objectives within or near densely populated areas, to the extent feasible. In situations where military objectives cannot feasibly be separated from densely populated areas, parties to the conflict have an obligation to remove civilian persons and objects under their control from the vicinity of military objectives. Rastan and Talbiseh 78. In late July, after the FSA gained control of Talbiseh, Government forces began to shell and bombard the town. In mid-September, Rastan was heavily shelled. In both towns, witness and victim accounts describe shelling and aerial bombardment that was indiscriminate. Military airplanes dropped “barrel bombs” in civilian areas and shelled residential neighbourhoods from a military base north of Rastan, killing and injuring civilians in their homes. GE.13-10627 99