A/HRC/30/48 128. In March, ISIS attacked Mabouja. The attack was a part of a series of other attacks by ISIS around Hama, aimed at taking control of the key road that connects Homs with Aleppo. While the village has a majority Ismaili population, its residents also include Sunni Muslims. Civilians living near the roads out of Mabouja were the primary victims of the attack, many killed in their homes. Most victims were Ismaili. ISIS also abducted at least 10 people, all Ismailis. 129. In April, Jabhat Al-Nusra and anti-Government armed groups attacked Ishtabraq village. Residents are predominantly Alawite but the village appears to have been targeted because of the Alawite community’s perceived support of the Government. Civilians were shot and killed while fleeing. Ansar Al-Din later published videos online showing the detonation of two Alawite shrines in the village. 130. Jabhat Al-Nusra has forced Druze villages in the Syrian Arab Republic to convert to Sunni Islam, on threat of death. In Qalb Lawza, the Druze residents were made to convert once the area came under the control of the terrorist group in January. 131. During the attack on Busra Al-Sham in March by Jabhat Al-Nusra and various antiGovernment armed groups, Shia civilians were killed. In the months prior to the attack, the kidnapping and execution of Shia civilians were documented. Once the groups seized control of Busra Al-Sham, mixed Sunni-Shia couples were threatened, with the Shia spouse being told to leave or be killed. Shia women married to Sunni men were threatened with sexual violence. 132. In April, unidentified armed groups detonated explosives inside the Armenian 40 Martyrs church in Aleppo. The explosion destroyed this 15th century church, which contained relics and paintings dating back to the 18th century. The attack followed the April shelling of Armenian neighbourhoods in Aleppo. 133. Following the YPG’s retaking of previously ISIS-controlled areas of Tal Abyad in early July and villages in the Tel Tamer region of Al-Hasakah, YPG fighters reportedly looted houses belonging to Arab villagers. Despite some reports alleging forced displacement of Arab communities in these areas, most interviewees stated that they had fled in advance of clashes between ISIS and the YPG, and in fear of coalition airstrikes. 134. In Government-held areas, Sunni men from restive areas are in the greatest danger of being detained at checkpoints or during house searches, as they are perceived as likely sympathizers with or supporters of anti-Government armed groups. This community is particularly at risk of being subjected to enforced disappearance, torture and other detention-related violations. 135. As communities and groups are, or feel, threatened, they have retreated into areas where they believe themselves to be more protected. This has further strengthened the dangerous perception of a link between some ethnicities and/or religions and political allegiances. Consequently, indiscriminate attacks on areas held by an opposing warring party are increasingly likely to affect specific religious or ethnic communities. 136. Government shelling and besieging of areas such as Yarmouk camp and eastern Ghouta impact on the majority Sunni community residents there. As the Government is in control of the skies, the most deadly and often indiscriminate bombardments are of cities, towns and villages inhabited by majority Sunni populations. The presence of opposition fighters among the civilian population in some of these areas does not justify indiscriminate attacks against these locations, nor does it justify the treatment of the area as one target, which often appears to be the case. 137. The shelling of the neighbourhood of Sayda Zeinab (Damascus city) by armed groups in eastern Ghouta (Rif Damascus) has resulted in casualties amongst the Shia Muslim community, since the makeup of the neighbourhood has become increasingly Shia 17