UN report blames civilian deaths in northwest Syria on government and rebel groups

Pro-government forces were responsible for a majority of the attacks and 641 of the deaths, with other armed groups being responsible for 35 in their attacks. The armed groups refer to HTS and other rebel forces, the commission said.

The killings by the government largely came from airstrikes. “We didn’t choose to leave; there was no other alternative. The attacks were barbaric,” a man from the town of Maaret al-Numan said on the December government offensive to take the area, according to the report.

Government offensives led to a massive displacement of more than 500,000 people, the report found.

Rebel groups also attacked civilians. A total of 202 civilians in adjacent government areas were killed by rebel groups in western Aleppo from November 2019 through April of this year, according to the report.

The rebel attacks on civilians took several forms. “Armed groups utilized long-range artillery systems which could reach positions in parts of western Aleppo controlled by the government,” the commission said.

Groups including HTS used mortar attacks on civilian areas as well as improvised explosive devices, among other tactics. The UN described their attacks as “brutal violence.”

The UN referred to government actions as “widespread and indiscriminate bombardment,” adding that this “may amount to the crimes against humanity of forcible transfer, murder and other inhumane acts.”

On HTS, the commission said they executed civilians for dissent and shelled civilian areas, among other abuses. Commission member Karen Koning AbuZayd said “the acts by HTS members amount to war crimes,” per the press release.

The humanitarian situation in northwest Syria is bleak. UN Security Council members are currently arguing over which border crossing points are to remain open into the embattled territory. Closing some of the crossings into Idlib through Turkey, as Russia and China want, could further worsen the situation. More than a million people are displaced there and are struggling with the rising prices of food and medicine.