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During the reporting period, the frequency of new cultural heritage incidents in Syria remained at moderate levels with airstrikes causing the majority of new incidents in the Aleppo and Rif Dimashq theaters of operation. The DGAM released new information on the state of damaged cultural heritage sites in Aleppo linked to tunnel bombings, artillery strikes, and airstrikes. New, detailed information on recent heritage incidents in Aleppo remains scarce relative to initial incident reporting in the mainstream media and social media. ISIL territorial losses in northern Syria have provided opportunities to document damage and destruction in cities such as Djerablus and Manbij, and we may expect a steady flow of new information on the state of cultural assets and infrastructure in northern Aleppo and Raqqa Governorates in coming weeks. The current complex political and military environment in northern Syria, characterized by a wide array of forces, shifting loyalties and alliances, and tactical and strategic cross-purposes among supposed allies will contribute to instability and reduced operating capacity in coming months for humanitarian efforts, conflict resolution, and other emergency response efforts directed at the region’s religiously andethnically diverse population. A key concern remains the advance of Turkish ground forces into the area, which has severely raised the risk of violence between the US-backed FSA and SDF.

Syrian Director General of Antiquities and Museums, Maamoun Abdulkarim, traveled to Edinburgh Scotland to attend the Edinburgh International Cultural Summit. Abdulkarim conducted interviews on the state of Syrian heritage and the current challenges for cultural property protection efforts.

The capture of territory from ISIL in northern Iraq led to the release of new photodocumentation of previous ISIL deliberate destructions, vandalism, and repurposing of heritage sites in the hard-hit Sinjar region of Ninawa Governorate, as well as other crimes.