A/HRC/42/51 through cross-border operations, as well as, on occasion, shelling originating from territory controlled by the Government of the Syrian Arab Republic. Entrenched in fortified bases and among hundreds of civilians, including women and children, ISIL elements responded with anti-tank guided missiles, sniper fire and vehicle-born improvised explosive devices. 27. The Commission continued its investigations into a series of air strikes carried out by the United States-led international coalition during operation Al-Jazeera Storm (A/HRC/40/70, para. 49), which resulted in a high number of civilian casualties. For example, on 3 January at approximately 7.30 a.m., a series of air strikes hit a single-floor residential building and its immediate vicinity. The building was positioned more than a kilometre east of the centre of Sha‘fah, south of Hajin. Analysis of the impact site, including the crater, in conjunction with witness statements describing the launching of rockets from a jet fighter, led the Commission to conclude that an air strike had been the cause of the damage.9 28. The strike killed 16 civilians, including 3 women, 1 man, 3 boys and 9 girls. The majority of children killed were aged 5 years or less, with the youngest victim being a 2month-old infant. Fourteen victims belonged to the same family, while two additional victims were relatives staying at the house. Two boys survived the attack, sustaining injuries. 29. Witness statements, satellite imagery and video material received and reviewed by the Commission confirmed the targeted object had been an isolated building on the outskirts of Sha‘fah, hundreds of metres from the next cluster of residential buildings and positioned off the main roads. While interviewees confirmed the presence of ISIL terrorists in Sha‘fah itself, the Commission found no indication of any ISIL presence or military target in the wider area of the building struck at the time of the attack. 30. The Commission recalls numerous previous attacks by the United States-led international coalition that resulted in death or injury to civilians. 10 Furthermore, the Commission notes the isolated location of the targeted object, the high number of civilian casualties who were overwhelmingly children and the specific statements of eyewitnesses indicating the exclusive presence of civilians at the scene of the incident, all coinciding with the apparent absence of a military target in the area of the attack. 31. The evidence obtained regarding this incident indicated that international coalition forces failed to employ the necessary precautions to discriminate adequately between military objectives and civilians. The Commission finds that there are reasonable grounds to believe that international coalition forces may not have directed their attacks at a specific military objective, or failed to do so with the necessary precaution. Launching indiscriminate attacks that result in death or injury to civilians amounts to a war crime in cases in which such attacks are conducted recklessly. 11 32. Towards the end of January, SDF advancement was decelerated due to the large presence of civilians, often consisting of wives and children of ISIL fighters who were fleeing the combat zone. To illustrate the point, the Commission received reports of an air strike in the early hours of the morning of 29 January, which allegedly killed at least one man, four women and three boys. The attack struck the Moshan area of Baghuz Tahtani, where a crowd of civilians had gathered to leave the town. 9 10 11 Between 30 December 2018 and 12 January 2019, the Combined Joint Task Force (Operation Inherent Resolve) conducted 575 strikes consisting of 1,147 engagements in the Syrian Arab Republic, see www.centcom.mil/MEDIA/PRESS-RELEASES/Press-Release-View/Article/1734375/january15-cjtf-oir-strike-summary-dec-30-2018-jan-12-2019. A/HRC/37/72, para. 39, and annex IV (paras. 7–11); and A/HRC/40/70, paras. 46–48. For the mens rea, see, e.g., International Tribunal for the Prosecution of Persons Responsible for Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law Committed in the Territory of the Former Yugoslavia since 1991, Prosecutor v. Stanislav Galić, Case No. IT-98-29-T, judgment of 5 December 2003, para. 54. Cf. Jean-Marie Henckaerts and Louise Doswald-Beck, Customary International Humanitarian Law – Volume I: Rules (Geneva, International Committee of the Red Cross; Cambridge, United Kingdom, Cambridge University Press, 2005), rule 156. 7