A/HRC/30/48 III. Impact of the Syrian conflict on various civilian groups and communities 23. Civilians continue to be the main victims of the Syrian conflict. As violence has engulfed their lives, schools and neighbourhoods, civilians have fled to dwindling safe havens inside the Syrian Arab Republic, or over its borders. 24. Within the overall civilian population, some groups and communities have been specifically targeted by one or more of the warring parties. Furthermore, there are groups and communities on whom the war has a distinct impact. Often individuals suffer on the basis of multiple aspects of their identity, including their gender, age, ethnicity, religion and profession. An attack on a civilian population may particularly affect or be directed towards civilian women, or indeed, civilian women of a particular ethnicity, for example. Such is the reality of the war in the Syrian Arab Republic. 25. The present report examines the impact of the Syrian conflict on some of the most affected groups and communities. It does not, however, offer an exhaustive list – an impossibility given the richness of the Syrian mosaic. A. Civilians 26. Warring parties conduct hostilities with little, if any, regard for the laws of war and, in particular, its foundational principle of distinction. Regardless of the belligerent involved, the majority of attacks are not directed at a specific military objective or fail to employ a method or means of combat that can be directed at a specific military objective. Indiscriminate attacks on residential areas have led to massive casualties among Syrian civilians. 27. Government forces (including paramilitary and foreign and local supporting militia), anti-Government armed groups, Jabhat Al-Nusra and ISIS all locate military objectives within or near densely populated civilian-inhabited areas, endangering the civilian population. 1. Ground attacks 28. As warring parties advanced, they undertook ground attacks on civilian-inhabited villages on frontlines. In the ground attacks detailed below, Government forces, antiGovernment armed groups, Jabhat Al-Nusra and ISIS have killed civilian residents. 29. In mid-February, Government forces entered Hardetein village (Aleppo). Civilians were shot and killed as they fled. 30. Government forces entered Busr Al-Hareer, Miskiya Al-Sharqiya, Miskiya AlGharbiya and Musetba villages in the Dara’a countryside in April. While the area was under the control of the FSA, fighters were not present at the time of the Government’s advance. Government forces killed approximately 40 men and injured 60 others. 31. In March, anti-Government armed groups, fighting alongside Jabhat Al-Nusra, attacked and overran Busra Al-Sham (Dara’a), killing male and female residents. Acting in concert with Jabhat Al-Nusra, armed groups attacked Ishtabraq (Idlib) in April, killing fleeing civilians. In mid-June, Jabhat Al-Nusra fighters executed 24 men in Qalb Lawza (Idlib). 32. ISIS executed civilians during its February offensive against Assyrian villages along the Khabour River (Hasakah), including Tel Hermes, Tel Shamran, and Qabr Shamie. At the end of March, it attacked Mabouja (Hama). From 25-27 June, the terrorist group also 6