A/HRC/33/55
III. Resurging battlefield violence
A.
Living under fire
21.
In areas where it applied, the cessation of hostilities initially resulted in a significant
decrease in incidents of armed violence. As of late March, a resurgence of violence,
including aerial bombardments and shelling attacks, resulted in the loss of hundreds of lives
and massive destruction of infrastructure indispensable for civilian life. In areas where the
agreement did not apply — areas controlled by ISIL or Jabhat al-Nusra — attacks
continued unabated.
22.
Aerial bombardments in densely populated areas have a devastating impact on
civilians, both in terms of the human toll and the constant fear for their lives under which
civilians are forced to live. On 31 March, strikes by pro-Government forces in Deir alAsafir, an area outside Damascus controlled by anti-Government groups, hit a school, a
hospital and a mosque. At least 31 people were killed, including 3 children and their
parents. Several children were killed in the hospital after being evacuated from the school.
The strikes caused extensive damage to the hospital, the school, the mosque and several
homes.
23.
Venues essential to the survival of the civilian population were the object of aerial
attacks in opposition-held areas. An attack on a shop on 19 April in Kafr Nabl, Idlib, killed
seven people, including three children and shoppers in a nearby fish market. Within
minutes another attack in Maarat al-Numan, only 12 kilometres away, killed 37 persons in a
vegetable market. On 14 June, pro-Government forces bombed Al-Hajj bridge, which
connects eastern Aleppo to western Aleppo, killing at least 4 persons and injuring another
15, including women and children.
24.
Internally displaced persons are among the most vulnerable to violations. Having
fled from their homes to seek safety, many find themselves under attack in the camp where
they sought refuge. On 30 January, pro-Government forces fired rockets to Aubin camp in
Latakia, killing two people. On the same day, the Al-Yamedia camp, also in Latakia, was
shelled. While there were no casualties, most of the camp’s residents fled, fearing future
attacks. On 2 June, shelling of the Al-Yamedia camp border crossing resulted in the death
of two internally displaced men and injured a worker from a non-governmental
organization. There is no information suggesting that there were military targets inside or in
the vicinity of the camps.
25.
In Government-held areas, civilians were terrorized by ISIL attacks. From February
to June, indiscriminate attacks by ISIL claimed unprecedented numbers of casualties. The
attacks, all carried out using vehicle borne improvised explosive devices and suicide
bombers, invariably took place in crowded civilian areas. On 26 January, the detonation of
a vehicle borne improvised explosive device at a security checkpoint, followed by a suicide
bombing among the crowd that gathered after the first explosion, killed 22 persons and left
another 100 injured in the Homs residential neighbourhood of Al-Zahra.
26.
On 21 February, a series of explosions in Sayda Zaynab, outside Damascus, and car
bombings in Homs killed 140 people. The explosions took place when shoppers were out
and children were leaving school. An eyewitness described scenes of panic as the smoke of
the explosions dissipated and survivors saw the carnage around them. The attack followed a
double suicide attack by ISIL on Sayda Zaynab on 31 January that killed 40 civilians. The
first explosion took place at a bus station and the second in a residential area.
6
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