Over 150 Teenage Kurdish Students Reportedly Abducted by Syrian Islamic Militants
A militant group that used to be affiliated with al Qaeda has reportedly abducted over 150 teenage Kurdish students in Syria.
The
militant group, Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), has kidnapped
the male students who are between the ages of 15 to 18, and is holding
them hostage at a Sharia law school where they are being forced to take
Islamic training, CNN reports.
“They
are training them in Islam and prayer, but we are afraid that they are
teaching them to carry out operations in Kobani. We are very concerned
that they will use the children for their terrorism,” says Nouri Mahmoud, a member of the local Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD).
The Syrian
government reportedly refused to set up exam-testing centres in the
Kurdish-controlled city of Kobani. As a result, over 1,500 students had
to travel to Aleppo to take their year-end exams.
Last week,
ISIS allegedly stopped the buses driving students back from exams to
their hometown of Kobani
and kidnapped the boys despite an agreement
with the local community to let the Kurdish students pass the town
safely without any form of harassment.
Photo Credit: www.bbc.com