A/HRC/27/60 better organized and financed owing to the seizure of considerable resources and military equipment in Iraq, the group has consolidated control over large areas in northern and eastern governorates, in particular oil-rich Dayr az Zawr. ISIS is increasingly battling antiGovernment armed groups, including Jabhat al-Nusra, Kurdish armed groups, and, to a lesser extent, Government forces. 17. Besides attracting more experienced and ideologically motivated foreign fighters since it proclaimed itself an Islamic caliphate, ISIS has drawn an increasing number of Syrians to its ranks, particularly after forming alliances with local tribes in Ar Raqqah, Al Hasakah and Dayr az Zawr governorates. To curb popular discontent over its harsh governance methods, ISIS has adopted a strategy based on the establishment of order through a combination of brutality and the provision of essential services, including security and employment. 3. Kurdish armed groups 18. Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) continued to consolidate their control over the de facto self-regulated Kurdish regions in the north, namely Afrin, Ayn al-Arab and AlJazeera. They successfully repelled ISIS attacks on territory under their control along the borders with Iraq and Turkey . 19. Renewed violence has been reported in Ayn al-Arab (Aleppo) as ISIS launched an offensive using advanced weapons seized in Iraq. Sporadic clashes between YPG and local National Defence Forces were reported in the cities of Qamishli and Al Hasakah. III. Violations in the treatment of civilians and hors de combat fighters A. Massacres and other unlawful killing4 1. Government forces 20. Reports of deaths in custody in government detention centres in Damascus have risen. In most instances, the Government failed to acknowledge the majority of detentions and deaths in prisons, with relatives receiving information from former detainees or bribed officials. 21. Detainees have died from injuries sustained during torture. Others died from lack of food and medical care. Many families, however, were denied information concerning the circumstances of their relatives’ deaths. Where officially informed, families were often told the detainee died of a heart attack. One father, told of the death of his 28-year-old son, stated “it seems now everyone in Syria has a heart attack”, attesting to the Syrian authorities’ pervasive practice of concealing the cause of death. 22. There were multiple reports of deaths in custody at the Mezzeh airport detention facility, Military Security Branches 215 and 235 and Sednaya Prison. A pattern of families being directed to the Qaboun Military Police and then to Tishreen Military Hospital prevailed. In most cases, bodies were not returned. Many are reportedly buried in Najha cemetery. Without access, that information cannot be confirmed. 23. In January, the Qaboun Military Police informed a family that a male relative, who had been detained and disappeared in 2011, had died of a heart attack. The family was 4 See also annex IV. 5