Announcement of the Targeting of Inhabited Neighborhoods: A Legal Presumption of Criminal Intent
The repeated public threat of shelling issued by the so-called “Operations Authority” affiliated with Damascus factions, which targets civilian-populated areas in the Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh neighborhoods of Aleppo, cannot be regarded as a legitimate security or military measure. Rather, it constitutes direct intimidation of the civilian population and the forcible coercion of residents into displacement under the threat or use of weapons. Under international humanitarian law, such conduct is explicitly classified as forcible displacement and constitutes a war crime.
Moreover, issuing this threat publicly by the so-called “Operations Authority” constitutes a clear legal presumption of criminal intent and represents direct preparation for the commission of grave violations and deliberate killings, including the targeting of civilians, the destruction of civilian infrastructure, and the imposition of collective punishment.
Any harm inflicted on civilians or on civilian property and infrastructure as a result of this announced threat places direct criminal responsibility on the Damascus government and its affiliated entities, as well as on everyone who issued, carried out, or covered up this threat.
Accordingly, this threat of shelling is not merely a media statement; it is a legal warning of the imminent commission of crimes. Therefore, we present this announced threat issued by the Damascus government to public opinion and international human rights institutions as a legal presumption of criminal intent, and we hold the announcing and executing parties fully responsible for any subsequent crime.
Internal Security Forces – Aleppo
Media Center
January 8,2026

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