A/HRC/24/46 125. Government forces conducted their military operations in flagrant disregard of the distinction between civilians and persons directly participating in hostilities. The Government should take greater precautions to protect civilians inside areas where military operations are conducted. Precautions include the use of more targeted weaponry and the cessation of use of barrel bombs, poorly-guided missiles and cluster munitions. 126. Government forces continued to position military objectives inside towns and villages, including Nubl and Zahra (Aleppo), Fou’a (Idlib) and Shia villages in south western Homs, thus endangering the civilian population and violating international legal obligations. As the residents of these localities tend to be predominantly Shia, Alawite and Christian, such positioning contributed to rising sectarian tensions. 2. Anti-government armed groups 127. Armed groups continue to operate within civilian areas, violating international legal obligations to avoid positioning military objectives within or near densely populated areas. In several locations, including Kafr Zita (Hamah), Al-Qaryatayn (Homs) and Al-Nabak (Damascus), armed groups took care to base themselves away from the civilian population. Some fighters, however, including those in Aleppo city, live among civilians, exposing them to attack. 128. Anti-government armed groups, led by Liwa Al-Tawheed, continued to shell Nubl and Zahra in northern Aleppo using artillery and home-made rockets. Forces positioned inside the villages shelled nearby opposition-controlled villages. 129. From March to July, a coalition of armed groups, including Ahrar Al Sham, Liwa Al-Tawheed and Jabhat Al-Nusra, shelled Aleppo central prison. In Aleppo city, armed groups fired rockets and shells indiscriminately into Government-controlled neighbourhoods. 130. Armed groups based in Binnish, Idlib, continued to launch home-made rockets and artillery shells on Fou’a villages. While there were Government shelling positions (targeting Taftanaz and Binnish) in Fou’a, armed groups made no distinction between civilian and military objectives for shelling, causing several civilian deaths. 131. For information on the shelling of villages in south-west Homs countryside by antigovernment armed groups, see annex III. 132. Reports were received of snipers from armed groups shooting indiscriminately into Government-controlled neighbourhoods of Aleppo city, causing civilian casualties. 133. Anti-government armed groups used mortars, rockets and snipers in a manner that made no distinction civilian and military objectives, thereby committing unlawful attacks. 3. Undetermined perpetrators 134. Two bombings, both in Damascus, were reported during the period under review. On 11 June, there was a double suicide bombing in Marjeh Square, killing 14 people and injuring 30 others. The target appeared to be a nearby police station. On 27 June, a suicide bombing occurred in a Christian neighbourhood, killing four people. The likely target was a nearby Shia charity. No party claimed responsibility. These bombings demonstrated no clear military objective and spread terror among the civilian population. 135. While the above-mentioned acts constitute crimes under domestic law, they may, if it is determined that the perpetrators are parties to the conflict, also amount to war crimes. 17