A/HRC/31/68 on Alawite and Shia forces, both within its own ranks and in allied forces, have also stoked sectarian tensions. 116. In the Syrian Arab Republic before the conflict, discriminatory policies were already in place. Kurds, for example, were stripped of Syrian citizenship in the 1960s and forbidden from, inter alia, officially using the Kurdish language. Members of the minority Alawite sect held a disproportionate number of positions in the political and military establishment. Protesters, and later the armed groups and their supporters, believed that the Government was intent on maintaining political, economic and military power within this small community. This view has been further entrenched by the Government’s reliance on Hizbullah and Iraqi Shia forces. 117. Sunnis, the largest religious community within the Syrian population, account for the majority of civilian casualties and detainees. The Government, through its unlawful attacks and acts of enforced disappearance, has targeted communities believed to support armed groups or be insufficiently loyal to the Government. This has disproportionately affected the Sunni majority, in particular those from restive areas. Such targeting, while more opaque than that practised by armed groups and terrorist organizations, is, however, clearly understood by its victims. C. Devastation of basic conditions of life 118. Belligerents in Rif Damascus, Idlib and Dayr az-Zawr continue to employ sieges. The primary victims of this brutal tactic are the nearly 400,000 vulnerable civilians trapped inside densely populated districts where food, water, medicine and electricity are scarce. Owing to the marked escalation in hostilities countrywide, an additional 4.5 million Syrian men, women and children are confined to areas where humanitarian actors do not have regular access. 119. With no procedures in place for safe medical evacuation, nearly 5 million civilians endure an unremitting deterioration of basic living conditions. Weakened resilience, severe psychological trauma, acute malnutrition and, in numerous instances, preventable deaths characterize the besieged and hard-to-reach communities in the Syrian Arab Republic. 120. In the Rif Damascus mountain town of Madaya, government forces have used starvation as a weapon of war. Government forces alongside Hizbullah encircled Madaya in June 2015 as part of a military offensive against the neighbouring town of Zabadani. Government forces tightened their siege around Madaya in September. After imposing a complete blockade on goods, the situation for civilians in Madaya, Zabadani, Bqine and other areas around Damascus became increasingly desperate. 121. Government forces also restricted the movement of civilians out of Madaya. Civilians were prevented access to the Madaya valley, where agricultural land could be used to cultivate crops. Instead, areas surrounding Madaya were littered with anti-personnel landmines, some of which killed residents who risked searching for food. 122. In March 2015, anti-government armed groups strengthened their siege around Fu’ah and Kafraya, and both towns have been without electricity or water since. While the Government has occasionally dropped aid to these areas, grave shortages of food, water and medicine persist. 123. In September, a truce was reached between the Government and anti-government armed groups concerning access to Zabadani and Madaya, and Fu’ah and Kafraya. In October, a team comprising staff from the United Nations, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent delivered a shipment of food and 17