A/HRC/34/64 forces had renewed and secured the siege. Faced with a protracted humanitarian catastrophe, confined armed groups began a concerted campaign of shelling western Aleppo neighbourhoods over the next three months. Attacks were predominantly characterized by indiscriminate, indirect artillery fire into dense urban terrain, often with no apparent legitimate military objective, the effect of which terrorized the inhabitants of western Aleppo city. 70. The weaponry used by armed groups to effect stand-off attacks against western Aleppo city most commonly comprised indirect fire artillery systems, including multiple-barrel rocket launchers and improvised and craft-produced rockets. Improvised and craft-produced mortars (“hell cannons”) were also used. Armed groups had access to a limited number of direct-fire weapons, including recoilless guns, cannons, and a limited number of anti-tank guided weapons. Given the lack of a clear line of sight from the besieged pocket to potential target areas in western Aleppo, direct-fire weapons were typically employed only from a shorter range in and around the frontlines. 71. By early August, ongoing clashes for territorial control between armed groups and government troops over the 1070 Apartment Project, located on the southern edge of AlHamadaniyah district, intensified greatly. On 10 August, at approximately 10.30 a.m., in the third neighbourhood of Al-Hamadaniyah, next to the Ibn al-Bitar high school, unidentified munitions launched by armed groups struck a microbus transporting students to Aleppo University; 13 of 24 passengers were immediately killed, including the bus driver and his assistant, while 35 civilians were wounded, including passengers, shoppers and street vendors. At least six market stalls lining the street were damaged or completely burned. Al-Hamadaniyah district houses Al-Assad Military Academy, the Military Officers’ Housing and military vehicle shelters, located approximately 1.5 kilometres from Ibn al-Bitar high school. No military facilities were struck during the attack. The distance between Ibn al-Bitar high school, where the microbus was struck, and military facilities in al-Hamadaniyah suggests that armed groups battling in the vicinity of the 1070 Apartment Project fired an unguided rocket, amounting to the war crime of indiscriminate attacks in a civilian populated area (ibid., paras. 23-23). 72. On 30 September, in Al-Midan district, at approximately midday, unidentified munition, believed to be an unguided rocket fired from Bustan al-Pasha, struck a small supermarket next to al-Adra Church of Virgin Mary in the densely populated Villa neighbourhood, known as one of the most bustling commercial centres in Al-Midan. Two boys and one woman were killed as a result of shrapnel injuries, and the mother of the boys slightly injured. The distance between Bustan al-Pasha and Al-Midan district is approximately 1.5 kilometres. At the time of the attack, there was no military presence in or around Villa neighbourhood, which is home to a predominantly neutral Armenian minority population. The nature of the attack and lack of military presence suggests that armed groups committed the war crime of directing attacks against a civilian population (ibid., para. 20). 73. On 6 October, several unidentified munitions believed to be hell cannon projectiles were fired from the Bustan al-Qasr area shortly after midday prayers, striking a public market of shops and restaurants on İskenderun street, in Al-Jamiliyah neighbourhood of Al-Midan district. The distance between Bustan al-Qasr and Al-Midan districts is approximately five kilometres. The attack killed more than 12 civilians, including a woman and a child. More than 70 other civilians were wounded, and numerous shops destroyed. Hell cannons are relatively inaccurate and imprecise weapons, which fire unguided gas canisters with an approximately 40-metre blast radius. While the headquarters of Air Defence Intelligence of the Government is located just north of Al-Midan district, in neighbouring Bastan al-Pasha, the use of hell cannons at a distance of five kilometres from a besieged pocket amounts to the war crime of indiscriminate attacks in a civilian populated area (ibid., paras. 20-23). 74. As in eastern Aleppo city, numerous educational institutions and students in western Aleppo city were also affected by indiscriminate attacks during the period under review. On 2 November, armed groups fired indirect mortar projectiles towards the Aleppo University Faculty 15