A/HRC/22/59 60. The commission recorded an account from a defector from the Air Force in Taftanaz. The commanders of the Air Force Brigade in Taftanaz, [names withheld], reportedly gave orders to pilots, “There are armed terrorist groups operating [in a particular village or area]. Go destroy them all.” The interviewee emphasised that no additional orders were given on targeting and there was no target selection. The interviewee said that the pilots given such orders understood them to mean to destroy a village or area in its entirety. The weapons and means of warfare used were indiscriminate. Another interviewee described how the missiles and bombs used were unguided, and, when combined with the height at which helicopters flew, made targeting impossible, or at best, inaccurate. The flying height was determined by officers in the control tower of the air base, and was usually between 1–2 kilometres above the ground. According to an interviewee, “There is no way that you could pick out targets from this height and with these weapons. An unguided bomb dropped from a helicopter flying at a height of one kilometre could land anywhere within a 100m radius.” “We would drop bombs randomly.” The reasoning behind this approach to the conduct of hostilities was, according to one of the commanders of the air base, “If they [the civilians] didn’t want the terrorists, they would have forced them out before we got there. Anyone who supports the terrorists is a terrorist themselves.” Karnfbel 61. The town of Karnfbel was subject to heavy aerial bombardment on 17 October, hitting civilians in a commercial area of the town. The commission has recorded the names of 10 civilians killed in the attack, among them women and children. Sarmin 62. On 28 September, a peaceful demonstration was targeted from a helicopter, which fired several missiles at the gathered crowd of demonstrators and at a group of people who had just left the mosque and were heading towards the demonstration. The attack destroyed the mosque, caused the deaths of three civilians and the injury of many others. While residents of Sarmin attempted to rescue those wounded, the area was subjected to another round of aerial bombardment. Two hours later, Sarmin was hit with airstrikes for a third time. Sarmin was bombarded again in late December. Interviewee accounts describe how the village is being bombarded with “barrel bombs” on an almost daily basis. The extent of the presence of anti-Government armed groups remains under investigation. E. Dayr az Zawr governorate 63. The city of Dayr az Zawr has been the site of confrontations between Government forces and anti-Government armed groups since late June 2012. Neighbourhoods in which armed groups are based, namely Al-Hamidia, Al-Ardi, Al-Shiekh Yasin, Jubiela, Mouwthafeen, and Al-Omal, have been subjected to heavy mortar and artillery shelling and airstrikes from helicopters and fighter jets. The shelling of these neighbourhoods was conducted from army bases located in Al-Joura and Al-Dhara neighbourhoods. Snipers controlled all movement along the roads leading to these and other army positions. In order to avoid passing through snipers’ lines of fire, civilians made doors in the walls between houses to avoid using the roads, developing alternate routes to traverse the city, which offered a greater degree of cover from sniper fire from Government-held areas. Despite such efforts, civilians were killed by snipers, while undertaking civilian activities and moving in civilian areas. 64. There were reports of several incidents, between August and November, where civilians were killed by sniper fire in Jubiela neighbourhood in Dayr az Zawr. One interviewee described how the bodies of civilians shot by snipers would remain on the GE.13-10627 97