I. Introduction
1. The present report is the twenty-first submitted pursuant to paragraph 17 of Security Council resolution 2139 (2014), paragraph 10 of Council resolution 2165 (2014) and paragraph 5 of Council resolution 2191 (2014), in which the Council requested me to report, every 30 days, on the implementation of the resolutions by all parties to the conflict in the Syrian Arab Republic. At the request of the Presidency of the Security Council, this report is submitted less than 30 days from the date of the previous report.
2. The information contained herein is based on the data available to the United Nations agencies on the ground from the Government of the Syrian Arab Rep ublic and from open sources. Data from United Nations agencies and partners on their humanitarian deliveries have been reported for the period from 1 to 31 October 2015, where available.
II. Major developments
A. Political/military
3. Widespread conflict and high levels of violence continued throughout the Syrian Arab Republic in October. Indiscriminate and disproportionate aerial bombings and ground attacks on places with a large civilian presence by Government forces, non-State armed opposition groups and designated terrorist groups1 continued to kill, injure, and displace civilians. The conduct of hostilities by all parties continued to be characterized by a widespread disregard for international humanitarian law and the obligation of all parties to protect civilians. While the United Nations has no independent means of verification, many sources report a continuation of the use of barrel bombs. The Syrian Network for Human Rights reported the use of 1,438 barrel bombs across the country in the month of October. On 9 November, a statement issued by the Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates gave assurances that the Syrian Arab Armed Forces do not and will not use indiscriminate weapons.
4. Heavy fighting continued to be reported in Damascus and Rif Dimashq governorates. Government forces carried out airstrikes in various areas of eastern Ghutah in Rif Dimashq. The town of Duma was hit repeatedly during the month, including on 29 October, when airstrikes hit the main field hospital in Duma, killing at least 15 civilians and injuring 50 others, many of whom were medical personnel. On 30 October, several airstrikes hit the al-Hal market in Duma, killing at least 60 civilians and injuring 200 more. Elsewhere, according to reports received b y the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), over 30 civilians were killed and dozens injured in other attacks in eastern Ghutah during October, including in Ain Tarma, Hammura, Misraba and Harasta. Meanwhile, shelling in Marj temporarily displaced an estimated 1,400 families across eastern Ghutah and caused widespread destruction to critical infrastructure. In Darayya, OHCHR received reports that three people were killed between 25 and 29 October as a result of barrel bombs.
5. Non-State armed opposition groups continued to launch mortars and to shell Damascus city during the reporting period. OHCHR reported that on 1 October, a five year old child was killed when mortar rounds struck the rooftop of a residential building in Ish al-Werwer. On 13 October, the Embassy of the Russian Federation in the Mazra’a neighbourhood was hit, although no injuries were reported. On 14 October, a civilian was injured when a rocket struck an open area in the Mezzeh neighbourhood. On 17 October, one civilian was killed and seven injured when an improvised explosive device attached to a bicycle was detonated near a football pitch in Mezzeh. On 27 October, seven civilians were injured when mortar rounds hit Bab Tuma in old Damascus. Between 30 and 31 October, mortars struck several areas in Damascus, killing one civilian and injuring 12 others.
6. Fighting in Zabadani and Madaya, and in other areas in northwestern Rif Dimashq, as well as Fu’ah and Kafraya in Idlib governorate, decreased over the course of the reporting period following the ceasefire agreement reached in Istanbul, on 22 September 2015, with the facilitation of the Office of the United Nations Special Envoy for Syria. On 18 October, under the auspices of the agreement, a joint humanitarian convoy made up of United Nations personnel and other partners delivered assistance to Zabadani, Madaya and Buqayn, as well as to Fu’ah and Kafraya via a United Nations cross border operation through Turkey’s Bab al-Hawa border crossing. The United Nations and its partners stand ready to immediately implement the remaining humanitarian elements of the agreement, including the delivery of additional humanitarian assistance and the evacuation of the wounded.
7. Intensified fighting between the parties continued in the northern governorates of the Syrian Arab Republic during the reporting period following ground and air offensives by the Government, supported by Russian-led airstrikes. In Hama and Idlib governorates, in October alone, an estimated 80,000 people were displaced by the fighting. Civilians were also killed and injured as a result of the fighting: for example, on 4 October, one civilian was killed and four wounded when Government forces dropped barrel bombs on a residential neighbourhood in Khan Shaykhun. OHCHR received reports that, on 26 October, a Government airstrike reportedly hit Kafr Nabel in Idlib, killing two civilians and injuring 10 others. On 20 October, a health clinic in Sarmin that is supported by a non-governmental organization was hit by an airstrike, killing two people and injuring at least 28 civilians. On 25 October, a field hospital in Latamnah, Hama, was reportedly hit by an air strike, killing six people.
8. In Aleppo governorate, fighting escalated between the parties to the south of Aleppo city, following an offensive by Government forces in early October. In response, non-State armed opposition groups staged a number of counter offensives in late October. Some 50,000 people were displaced as a result of the fighting. Civilians were also killed and injured as a result of the escalation in fighting around Aleppo by all parties to the conflict: for example, on 2 October, Government helicopters dropped a number of barrel bombs on Al-Bab, resulting in tens of casualties according to information received by OHCHR. On 7 October, at least four civilians were killed when Government jets struck a residential area in Daret Azza. On 16 October, Government airstrikes on the town of Kafr Karmin killed at least nine civilians, including five children.
9. Fighting also continued in Aleppo city during the reporting period, as Government forces and non-State armed opposition groups continued to shell the city, causing casualties among civilians. On 14 October, non-State armed opposition groups fired canister bombs on the neighbourhoods of Aziza and Maidan. OHCHR received reports that, on 16 October, non-State armed opposition groups fired improvised explosive devices at a Government-controlled residential neighbourhood of Aleppo, killing a woman and her child. On 20 October, mortars landed in two schools in Government-controlled areas of western Aleppo city, killing an estimated 19 civilians. Meanwhile, on 30 October, airstrikes took place on Al-Kalasah, Al-Fardous, Salaheddine, Al-Sheikh Maqsoud, Al-Bab and other areas controlled by non-State armed opposition groups inside and outside the city, reportedly killing more than 65 and injuring more than 100 people.
10. ISIL continued to launch attacks in various governorates during the reporting period. On 23 October, ISIL exerted its control over a stretch of the HomsDamascus highway around Khanaser, cutting the main land access route for humanitarian and commercial actors to Aleppo city from within the Syrian Arab Republic. This resulted in an increase in commodity prices for the 700,000 people living in Government-controlled areas of western Aleppo city. The Government re-secured the highway at the start of November. Meanwhile, in northern Aleppo governorate, ISIL advanced south of Mare’a in early October, seizing a number of villages in the Handarat area of the Aleppo countryside, close to Aleppo city, and the major route between eastern Aleppo city and the Bab al-Salam border crossing with Turkey. As part of the offensive on 6 October, ISIL detonated a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device in Hritan, killing more than 20 people.
11. In Dayr al-Zawr governorate, ISIL continued its attacks on the Dayr al-Zawr city military airbase, although Government and Russian airstrikes reportedly blocked ISIL advances towards the military airbase over the last two weeks of October and also targeted other ISIL positions in Dayr al-Zawr and Raqqah. For example, on 18 October, two people were reported killed when Government airstrikes hit Mayadin town. On 19 October, at least three civilians, including one woman, were killed when Government jets hit the Aridi neighbourhood of Dayr al-Zawr city.
12. On 15 October, in Homs governorate, fighting continued in the northern countryside. OHCHR received reports that, on 15 October, Government forces reportedly dropped barrel bombs on Talbiseh, killing 15 civilians. Three additional aerial attacks on Talbiseh were reportedly carried out on 23 October, killing 14 civilians, including six children. Meanwhile, six civilians were killed and 17 injured when Government forces struck Ghanto village on 26 October. On 27 October, Government forces hit the village of Halmoze, killing two civilians and wounding at least eight others. Separately, ISIL launched a sustained attack on central Homs in late October, which led to the capture of Mahin town by ISIL and the displacement of approximately 25,000 people.
13. In the Wa’r district of Homs city, multiple shellings and attacks from pro-Government forces were reported in October. For example, on 24 October, Government forces fired a mortar into the Wa’r district, damaging several houses. Since 31 August, pro-Government forces have closed all roads leading to Wa’r, and humanitarian supplies have not entered. However, on 31 October, local traders were allowed to bring in small quantities of food, and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent and Syrian non-governmental organizations delivered two small trucks full of medicines. Negotiations between the parties on a local agreement reportedly continue. On 3 November, the Office of the Special Envoy and the Office of the Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator conducted a cross-line mission to Wa’r and a submitted further request for an inter-agency convoy to Wa’r to the Syrian authorities.
14. Fighting in the southern governorates reported during October resulted in death and injury to civilians. In Dar’a governorate, Government airstrikes continued as did shelling between Government forces and non-State armed opposition groups. OHCHR received reports of several attacks with barrel bombs during the month, including an attack on Busra al-Sham on 21 October, which killed four children and two other civilians, and on Dael on 14 October which killed a pregnant woman and her one-year-old daughter. A child in the village of Barga was killed on 16 October by an explosive remnant of war. On 24 October, a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device was detonated by an unknown perpetrator around 300 meters from the national hospital in Tafas town in Dar’a.
15. Both Russian and United States-led coalition forces continued their operations in the Syrian Arab Republic throughout the month of October. On 8 October, an airstrike hit the Ferdous neighbourhood in the centre of Raqqah, hitting a vehicle and killing the driver and five of his family members, including one child. While Russian authorities and the United States-led coalition have acknowledged carrying out airstrikes in Raqqah governorate on that day, it is unclear who is responsible for this particular incident. In addition, OHCHR received a number of reports alleging that there had been civilian casualties as a result of airstrikes, in which reports the origin of the strikes could not, however, be adequately ascertained. On 3 October, an airstrike struck Ihsem in Idlib governorate, killing at least five civilians, including one woman and four children. A first responder was killed in a subsequent attack that took place soon after the first one and in the same area. On 9 October, airstrikes on Mayadin in Dayr al-Zawr governorate hit the area near Mayadin Hospital, killing one civilian who was in the vicinity. On 12 October, 12 civilians, including a child, were injured following an airstrike on Hayan, north-west of Aleppo. On 13 October, at least seven civilians were killed following an airstrike that hit a civilian area in Hayan. On 15 October, OHCHR received information that an airstrike hit a bakery, killing eight civilians and damaging a nearby mosque in Tir Mallah, Homs. On 15 October, a strike allegedly hit a house in Ghanto, Homs, killing over 40 members of an extended family. On 27 October, multiple airstrikes in Asiya, al-Bawabiya, and Tel Hadiya in Aleppo governorate reportedly killed at least 22 civilians and injuring others.
16. Displacement continued throughout the Syrian Arab Republic in October. Over 190,000 people were displaced from various areas in Aleppo, Idlib, Hama, Homs, Rif Dimashq, Dayr al-Zawr, Raqqah and Dar’a governorates due to ongoing fighting.
17. Civilian infrastructure continued to be targeted during the reporting period. In Aleppo, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) recorded 10 days of water cuts during October (water remained cut as of 4 November), as well as persistent electricity cuts. On 23 October, a major water pipeline at Wadi Barada exploded, likely due to shelling in the vicinity and a general degradation of the pipes, resulting in the interruption of water supplies to parts of Damascus and to Qudsaya in Rif Dimashq.
18. There were developments regarding several local agreements during the reporting period. In Qudsaya, Rif Dimashq, reconciliation negotiations continued. According to reports, about 70 per cent of fighters in Qudsaya have surrendered their weapons and regularized their status through Government security branches; while the rest of fighters have so far refused to surrender their weapons. Government forces continued to close the main road to the district, with limited medical supplies, food or other assistance having reached the area in over two months. In Madamiyet, a separation wall with Darayya was built as part of an agreement with the representative of the Syrian Armed Forces in exchange for a promise to open the road leading to the town. However, restrictions on movement have reportedly not been lifted yet.
19. Following intense and constructive discussions in Vienna, the participants issued a joint communiqué encapsulating fundamental principles for a political solution and tasking the United Nations with the establishment of a negotiating process, bringing together the Government and the opposition as well as exploring modalities for a nationwide ceasefire to run in parallel with a renewed political process. The communiqué also stressed the importance of Syrian ownership of the political process.