A/HRC/42/51 33. On 9 February, SDF announced the advent of decisive battles centred around Baghuz. At that point, and while estimates vary considerably, several hundred ISIL fighters and up to one thousand civilians remained in the enclave after thousands of civilians, mostly women and children, had fled the area towards Al-Hasakah Governorate (see para. 81 below). After weeks of intense fighting and the near complete destruction of Baghuz, on 23 March SDF announced the full liberation of operational areas from ISIL. 34. In addition to front-line battles, the Commission received several accounts of night raids carried out by SDF with the aerial support of helicopter gunships provided by international coalition forces, which killed and injured civilians. For example, on 4 January 2019 at approximately 1.00 a.m., a night raid in SDF-controlled Kashmah village killed up to eight civilians including five men, two women and one boy, and further injured one man and one girl. While the exact unfolding of events is still under investigation, accounts received by the Commission suggest an exchange of fire between some villagers and SDF with the support of helicopter gunships, which led to the killing of several villagers. The local community perceived the raid as an attack on fellow tribal members, while SDF claim that they responded to fire from ISIL elements in the village. The Commission received information and supporting documentation that, on 27 January, a settlement of $80,000 was offered by SDF to the family members of the deceased. 35. In another incident on 25 April, at approximately 1.00 a.m., interviewees described how two helicopters circling over Al-Daman village warned, using loudspeakers, the inhabitants of the village not to leave their homes, and that non-compliance would cause forces to open fire. Witnesses described how a voice over a loudspeaker ordered the female family members of a certain house to leave it, resulting in two women and two girls leaving the house and being handcuffed. Afterwards, the men from the house were ordered to leave. While the exact unfolding of events is under investigation, three men and one pregnant woman, all reportedly unarmed, were subsequently shot by SDF. The following day, villagers protested against SDF and reportedly burned down SDF checkpoints. 36. On 8 May, at approximately 1.00 a.m., a night raid by SDF, supported by international coalition air power, was conducted in the Al-Katif neighbourhood of Shahil, under SDF control. Reports received by the Commission described how, despite warnings given through loudspeakers, three men left their homes and were subsequently shot. Reportedly, this led to an exchange of fire when enraged residents of the town began to engage with SDF. The operation, which killed six men and injured another, infuriated residents and sparked major protests the following day, resulting in the accidental killing of a man when SDF fighters fired warning shots in the air near a checkpoint. 37. In addition to above-mentioned incidents, local residents have protested against widespread corruption, extortion, the lack of services and security, and the abuse of power by SDF commanders and fighters throughout Dayr al-Zawr Governorate. The present situation, which is further aggravated by the continued presence of ISIL, has left the civilian population in dire humanitarian conditions, with limited access to health, education and basic services. The Commission notes with concern that, since the cessation of operations by SDF and the international coalition, a degraded and dispersed ISIL force participates in low-level insurgency, conducting numerous attacks and assassinations throughout Dayr al-Zawr Governorate. 38. The foregoing incidents indicate that all feasible precautions have not been taken by SDF and the international coalition forces in its supporting role – in both the planning and implementation phases of operations – to avoid or minimize harm to civilians, in violation of international humanitarian law. B. Idlib, northern Hama, Ladhiqiyah and western Aleppo 39. The September 2018 agreement between the Russian Federation and Turkey to form a demilitarized zone comprising areas of Idlib, northern Hama, Ladhiqiyah and western Aleppo offered the hope that a stalemate would materialize. Instead, hostilities in the zone escalated in two major waves, first in mid-February and then again at the end of April. At 8