A/HRC/30/48
launched an attack on Kobane, killing approximately 250 civilians. These attacks are
detailed in Section H below.
2.
Aerial bombardments and shelling
33.
The Government has continued aerially bombarding civilian-inhabited localities.
Areas of Aleppo, Dayr Az-Zawr, Idlib, Damascus and Dara’a have come under intense
attack, leading to widespread civilian casualties.
34.
Some attacks were directed towards civilian gathering places, specifically markets
and transport hubs. In early February, bus gathering points in Baidin and Al-Hayderia
neighbourhoods of Aleppo city were hit with barrel bombs, killing civilians. In May, the
Government launched an airstrike on Jisr Al-Haj, where buses and taxis collect passengers
in Aleppo city. Approximately 40 people were killed. The majority were civilians,
including several children.
35.
In May, Government helicopters dropped multiple-barrel bombs on three markets in
ISIS-controlled Al-Bab, in northern Aleppo. ISIS was not present inside the markets, which
sold vegetables, women’s clothing and agricultural equipment, respectively. In early June, a
Government helicopter dropped a barrel bomb on Jib Al-Quba food market, in Aleppo city.
The attack resulted in civilian casualties. There were no military objectives in the market.
36.
Anti-Government armed groups have shelled civilian-inhabited towns and
neighbourhoods in Aleppo, Damascus, Idlib and Latakia. Government-controlled
neighbourhoods in Aleppo city remain under regular bombardment from armed groups. In
early May, an unidentified armed group fired a rocket into Al-Mougambo neighbourhood,
killing nine civilians. Armed groups periodically cut water to Government-held Aleppo
city.
37.
Anti-Government armed groups continue to fire rockets and mortars into the
Jaramana and Sayda Zeinab neighbourhoods of Damascus city, resulting in many civilian
casualties. Prior to the ground attacks in Dara’a and Idlib, anti-Government armed groups
and Jabhat Al-Nusra indiscriminately shelled villages as they advanced.
38.
In April, the international coalition launched an airstrike on Beir Mihli (Aleppo),
located along a frontline between the YPG and ISIS. It remains unclear what military
objectives were present in the village, but the number of civilian casualties – reportedly
over 60 people – is of serious concern. Similarly, in a coalition airstrike on Dali Hasan
(Aleppo) in June, a family – including five children – was killed. The military objective is
still to be clarified.
39.
Investigations are continuing into the alleged use of chemical weapons, in the form
of chlorine and/or phosgene gas, in Sermin, Saraqib, Qmenas and Binish, as well as other
towns and villages in Idlib in March and April.
B.
Fighting-age men
40.
While few civilians have been left unscathed by the continuing brutality of the
Syrian war, it is civilian men who make up the largest community of victims. Civilian men
perceived to be of fighting age have been targeted by warring parties during ground
7
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