Hay’at Tahrir al Sham (HTS) artillery forces fired several shells at the villages of Burj Abdallo and Qarzihal, both to the southeast of Afrin city in Aleppo governorate’s northern suburbs, on October 12, 2022, as a prelude to storming the villages to fight alongside the Syrian National Army’s (SNA) al Hamza Brigade and Sultan Suleiman Shah Brigade against the SNA’s Third Corps.
One civilian, Mrs. Fatima Mahmoud al Abd from Rasm al Abd village east of Aleppo, was killed, and several members of her family wounded in HTS’ bombardment on al-Meyah IDP camp, located in the village of Burj Abdallo. A number of tents Burj slightly damaged as well.*
Through this attack, HTS has again clearly violated UN Security Council resolutions 2139 and 2254 which prohibit any further indiscriminate attacks, as well as violating the rules of international humanitarian law which stress the distinction between civilians and combatants.
SNHR condemns the SNA factions and HTS’ involvement in their clashes with one another, and calls for an immediate end to these clashes to guarantee the protection of civilians in these areas, and avoid any further damage to civilian facilities.
* According to the information we received from activists, we originally reported that a woman killed in bombardment of Abdallo village, north of Aleppo, by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham died in the village itself. Following further investigation, however, we have learnt that the shells landed in al-Meyah IDP camp in the village, killing the woman in question, and damaging multiple tents. On October 31, 2022, we edited the news report accordingly to reflect the updated information.
