A/HRC/34/64 possibility of United Nations aid for political gain, in protest against a ceasefire agreement brokered between the United States of America and the Russian Federation that did not include the input of armed groups. By December, when pro-Government forces recaptured Aleppo city, a number of storage sites where armed groups kept and guarded stockpiles of foodstuffs were discovered. 64. In an effort to govern residents of eastern Aleppo city, armed groups implemented a system whereby complaints could be registered at a designated premises run by fighters. Inhabitants spoke of an ad hoc and nepotistic approach to dispute resolution, where the concerns of sympathizers and fighters’ relatives were prioritized over those of civilians without sufficient connections. 65. Through intimidation, certain armed groups prevented civilians from leaving hotly contested districts, including al-Firdous, during the siege. By preventing civilians from leaving, armed groups attempted to render parts of al-Firdous immune from further attack by using civilians as human shields (ibid., paras. 46-47). Residents recounted how women were prevented from leaving al-Firdous on threat of being killed. One young woman recalled how armed group fighters had killed her husband when he tried to leave in late September. 66. In October, as part of a humanitarian pause brokered by the United States of America and the Russian Federation, government forces began circulating details on television and via loudspeakers about a potential evacuation for civilians and fighters. Some armed group members warned civilians that the eight humanitarian corridors proposed were a pretext for the Syrian army to forcibly conscript new recruits into their ranks; for example, residents of al-Firdous district insisted that fear inhibited civilians from leaving, as armed group fighters coexisted with civilians and were “everywhere in the streets”. By late October, armed groups attempted to impose an 8 p.m. curfew on civilians in various districts throughout eastern Aleppo city in an effort to control their movements and to prevent their escape after dark. Civilians who decided to stay feared either retribution for attempting to flee or revenge by government forces once they reached areas under their control. 67. In late November, before Masaken Hanano was retaken by the Syrian army, Jabhat Fatah al-Sham terrorists actively prevented civilians from leaving the district. The terrorist group arbitrarily arrested at least two civilians who attempted to negotiate the ability for civilians to exit, on the charge of inciting people against the terrorist group. The whereabouts of the two civilians remains unknown (ibid., paras. 24-30). The incident intimidated other civilians to the extent that no others attempted to leave Masaken Hanano until the Syrian army recaptured the district on 26 November. 68. Throughout the duration of the siege, armed groups established offices in civilian homes and complexes, and regularly appropriated residences left abandoned by civilians who either been able to flee eastern Aleppo or who had passed away. VI. Western Aleppo city Rocket and mortar attacks 69. Approximately 1.5 million residents, including internally displaced persons, inhabited the densely populated districts of Government-held western Aleppo city throughout the period under review. Shortly after the siege was laid to east Aleppo in late July, anti-Government armed groups launched a series of counter offensives to break the siege from the south, in and around the military colleges of Ramouseh district, with limited success. By early September, pro-Government 14