Education Under Attack 2018 - Iraq

According to information shared by the UN at least 350 schools were damaged or destroyed in Iraq, and at least 100 teachers and 60 students were killed, injured, threatened, or abducted. Dozens of schools and universities were used for military purposes by parties to the conflict. Armed groups recruited children and youth from schools. There were also at least 70 reported attacks on higher education facilities, students, and personnel.

Context

Insecurity increased across Iraq during the 2013-2017 reporting period, with sectarian violence between Shias and Sunnis escalating in 2013, the rise of 'IS' in 2014, and violence surrounding parliamentary elections, also in 2014. These trends, in combination with weak governance and widespread corruption, significantly challenged the country's stability.^[1002]

The Iraqi Security Forces (ISF), government-allied militias, and 'IS' vied for territorial control throughout the reporting period.^[1003] Beginning in mid-2014, 'IS' gained control over predominantly Sunni areas north and east of the capital, Baghdad.^[1004] Backed by the United States, the ISF began operations to retake Ramadi in February 2016, Fallujah in May 2016, and Mosul in October 2016.^[1005] The operation in Mosul lasted through first half of 2017, which had a devastating impact on the civilian population.

Conflict throughout Iraq took a toll on education. UNICEF reported in June 2017 that in the areas of Iraq most affected by conflict, more than 90 percent of children were out of school.^[1006] In areas under its control, 'IS' reportedly banned subjects such as history, literature, art, music, and evolution, and replaced the curriculum with one focused on religious teaching.^[1007] Human Rights Watch reported that families had stopped sending their children to school in areas controlled by 'IS' because of changes the group made to the curriculum, fears about indoctrination, concern that schools would be struck in air strikes targeting fighters, and a lack of qualified teachers.^[1008]

Although 'IS' permitted girls under the age of 15 to attend school, the group segregated the classrooms and its curriculum promoted gender stereotypes.^[1009] In public life, including on the route to school, girls faced the threat of rape and harassment, including for failure to comply with dress codes.^[1010] Furthermore, parents reported marrying their girls early to protect them from being forced to marry 'IS' fighters, despite the fact that early marriage resulted in the girls dropping out of school.^[1011] A UN commission of inquiry determined that sexual violence committed against Yezidi women and girls by 'IS', such as using schools as sites to sell women and girls into sexual slavery, were acts of genocide.^[1012]

In the context of increased violence and instability, attacks on education in the current period were reported at higher rates than during the period covered in Education under Attack 2014.

Attacks on schools

The 2013-2017 reporting period saw more than 100 targeted and indiscriminate attacks on schools, which harmed more than 300 students and education personnel. UNICEF reported in June 2017 that there had been 138 attacks on schools between January 2014 and May 2017, and that half of all schools in Iraq were in need of urgent repairs, although it was unclear whether this need stemmed solely from the conflict.^[1013]

Attacks on schools typically took the form of explosives, mortar shells, and air strikes. These reported numbers represented a doubling of those described in Education under Attack 2014, despite constraints on monitoring and reporting during the current reporting period. The UN Security Council noted that limited access to areas of Iraq affected by conflict throughout 2014 and during the first half of 2015 prevented comprehensive monitoring of attacks on education during that time.^[1014]

GCPEA found a total of 19 attacks on schools that were reported by the UN and media sources in 2013.^[1015] In most cases, unidentified attackers planted explosives inside or near schools, or exploded vehicles near schools. The UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) documented the same number of attacks, although it was not clear whether the two sets of attacks included identical incidents.^[1016] For example:

• According to UN sources, on March 11, 2013, an IED targeting a police station in the town of Dibis, north of Baghdad, damaged an adjacent secondary school. One hundred and six students between the ages of 13 and 17 were wounded, as were four teachers.^[1017]

• UN and media sources documented an attack in October 2013 in Qabak Turkman village, in the northern Nineveh governorate. A suicide bomber reportedly drove a truck full of explosives into a primary school playground and detonated them, killing at least eight primary school children, their head teacher, and an unknown number of other teachers, and injuring at least 112 children and teachers.^[1018]

• On November 28, 2013, a bomb on the road outside a girls' school was discovered and safely defused.^[1019]

The number of reported attacks in 2014 tripled over the previous year. GCPEA found reports of approximately 60 incidents of violence targeting schools, based on information compiled from UN and media sources.^[1020] The UN Secretary-General's Annual Report on Children and Armed Conflict similarly reported 67 attacks on schools and education personnel, including military use of schools, throughout the country during the year.^[1021] This increase in attacks that affected schools was partially attributable to violence leading up to the Iraqi elections in April of that year. The majority of attacks on schools took forms similar to those seen in 2013, including the use of IEDs and other explosives. There were also cases of gunmen opening fire on schools guarded by the ISF, which damaged the buildings.^[1022] For example:

• According to the UN, 23 attacks targeted schools used as polling stations in northern and western regions of Iraq, including in Baghdad, Kirkuk, Salah al-Din, Anbar, and Nineveh, around the time of the April 2014 parliamentary elections. The perpetrators of the attacks were not identified.^[1023]

• One of the deadlier attacks on schools occurred on June 9, 2014, when two vehicle-borne IEDs detonated in the mixed Kurdish, Turkmen, Sunni area of Tuz Khormatu, one near the office of the political party Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, and the other near the office of the Iraqi Communist Party, both located near schools. No damage to the schools was reported. According to UNAMI, these explosions killed 26 people, including one child under the age of 15, and injured 150 others, including 12 students under the age of 15. The perpetrator of the attack was not reported.^[1024]

Attacks on schools continued to be reported at even higher rates during 2015. The UN documented 90 attacks on schools and education personnel and verified 68. Most (62) took place during fighting in Anbar, near Baghdad, that continued throughout the year. It was not clear how many of these attacks were directed at educational facilities rather than at education personnel.^[1025] For example:

• A UN report documented five attacks on schools during the first half of 2015, all of which occurred during clashes between the ISF and 'IS' in Anbar, killing an unknown number of IDPs who were sheltering in the schools.^[1026]

• According to media reports, on June 16, 2015, an explosion near a girls' school in Diyala killed at least four students and a teacher and injured another four students.^[1027] Reports conflicted about whether the explosion was the result of a roadside bomb or a car bomb.

• On November 29, 2015, a mortar shell from an unidentified source struck a school in Anbar, reportedly injuring three students, according to the GTD.^[1028]

Reports of attacks on schools appeared to decline in 2016, but it was not clear whether this pattern was the result of challenges in monitoring or changes in the environment. The UN documented at least 11 attacks on schools during 2016 but verified just 5.^[1029] Among the attacks verified were air strikes that damaged two schools in Mosul, one that was being used by 'IS', and three others that were damaged by fighting in Kirkuk and Nineveh.^[1030] The UN also documented attacks on schools in Diyala, Baghdad, and Anbar provinces.^[1031] The majority of these attacks took the form of mortars and explosives directed at schools, and were reportedly perpetrated by 'IS'. Examples included the following:

• 'IS' struck a school in eastern Ramadi on May 16, 2016, according to local media sources.^[1032]

• The MRM country taskforce reported at least one case of a vehicle-born IED attack on a school in Karkh district, which occurred on an unknown date in October of that year.^[1033]

In 2017, Mosul was the area most heavily affected by attacks on schools. Information collected by GCPEA from media reports, Airwars, and the UN indicated that there were at least 20 attacks on schools between January and April 2017, including 18 in Mosul, one in Diyala governorate, and one in Salah al-Din governorate.^[1034] In April 2017, UN Habitat released an analysis of satellite imagery assessing damage to schools in Mosul. The analysis indicated that 31 schools had been destroyed across different areas of the city as of that month.^[1035] According to the Education Cluster, by the end of July 2017, after Iraqi forces had retaken the city, a total of 69 schools had been damaged, the majority in West Mosul.^[1036] In Salah al-Din governorate, the Education Cluster reported in June 2017 that 19 schools were destroyed, 13 in Yathrib district, 4 in Baiji district, and 2 in Shirqat district.^[1037]

The UN verified 151 attacks on schools in 2017.^[1038] GCPEA separately compiled information on 21 attacks on schools in 2017 from UN, NGO, and media sources.^[1039] It was not clear whether any of these incidents overlapped with those verified by the MRM. For example:

• Airwars reported that Coalition forces took responsibility for bombing a school housing IDPs in Mosul on January 13, 2017.^[1040]

• 'IS' was allegedly responsible for one of the deadlier attacks during the first quarter of 2017, according to local media. On February 11, 2017, the group reportedly fired missiles at a school in eastern Mosul, killing two female students and wounding others, including teachers.^[1041]

Attacks on school students, teachers, and other education personnel

From 2013 to 2017, targeted killings, bomb blasts, abductions, and threats harmed at least 100 education personnel and 60 students. Rates of reported attacks remained relatively consistent throughout the reporting period and were slightly less frequent than documented in Education under Attack 2014, although this may have been the result of challenges in monitoring.

The majority of violence against students, teachers, and education personnel occurred in areas of the country under 'IS' control, such as Mosul. Reports about life under 'IS' described teachers being threatened with death if they did not continue to teach the 'IS' curriculum. 'IS' was said to patrol the schools to ensure compliance.^[1042] Many parents reportedly took their children out of school so that they would not be indoctrinated.^[1043]

Targeted killings of teachers and principals were the most commonly reported form of attacks on students and education personnel in 2013. In most cases, the perpetrators and motives were unknown. The UN reported 13 incidents of killing or injury of education personnel and expressed concern about threats to teachers, particularly in Diyala governorate, where flyers distributed throughout the community threatened English-language teachers.^[1044] GCPEA identified media reports of 11 attacks on students, teachers, and other education personnel in 2013.^[1045] It was not clear how many of these overlapped with those reported by the UN. Some attacks targeted female educators and girls' education. For instance:

• On January 7, 2013, a female Christian teacher was found dead, with her throat cut, in Mosul, according to UNAMI.^[1046]

• According to media sources, unidentified perpetrators shot and killed the principal of Nablus School for Girls in Mosul on September 26, 2013. The principal's gender was not reported.^[1047]

Targeted killings of teachers and other education personnel continued at similar rates in 2014, and targeted attacks on and abductions of students were also reported. The UN documented 10 attacks or threats of attack against teachers by 'IS' during 2014, as 'IS' began to target teachers as part of its widely implemented strategy to control the Iraqi education system and use schools as sites for indoctrination.^[1048] UNAMI and OHCHR reported that in Kirkuk, after 'IS' required females above the age of 13 to wear the face-covering niqab, parents stopped sending their girls to school in order to avoid harassment by 'IS' patrols that were enforcing the rules.^[1049] The attacks on students and education personnel recorded in 2014 included the following:

• According to media sources, a roadside bomb planted by unidentified perpetrators struck a bus carrying school teachers in Baquba, Diyala province, in February 2014. At least 10 teachers were reported wounded.^[1050]

• Education International reported that 'IS' targeted teachers' union leaders and their families, including the assassination of a union leader in June 2014 for his involvement in efforts to build a more democratic education system.^[1051]

• On June 22, 2014, attackers kidnapped 20 Kurdish school children, according to the GTD. Sources believed that 'IS' was responsible for that attack, but no one claimed responsibility.^[1052]

• On August 15, 2014, as reported by UNAMI and OHCHR, 'IS' went to a local school in Tal Afar, rounded up all males older than 10, took them away, and shot them.^[1053]

The UN and Human Rights Watch reported dozens of targeted killings and abductions of students and teachers during 2015, and one case of torture.^[1054] Following the same trends identified in 2014, 'IS' continued to target individuals who openly opposed the group and was responsible for many of the attacks on students and teachers. The UN verified a total of 24 violations against teachers and students.^[1055] Examples of attacks included the following:

• According to a report by UNAMI, 'IS' abducted four teachers from a high school in Mosul due to their opposition to the group.^[1056]

• In March 2015, 'IS' executed a primary school teacher who criticized the group in Tal Afar, according to Quilliam and the Romeo Dallaire Foundation.^[1057]

• On June 16, 2015, in Abu-Saida subdistrict, Diyala, an IED planted by unidentified perpetrators detonated in a minibus carrying female middle school students, killing the driver and four students, and wounding six students.^[1058]

• On December 9, 2015, 'IS' tortured and killed a female secondary school teacher in Mosul city for purportedly refusing to teach the group's curriculum.^[1059] The curriculum banned the teaching of national history, literature, art, music, and evolution, and implemented gender-segregated teaching and learning.^[1060]

Attacks on students and educators appeared to slow in 2016. The UN verified far fewer attacks on education personnel than during the previous year, just five total. 'IS' was responsible for all of these attacks, including incidents in which four teachers were abducted, killed, or injured, and one teacher was threatened by the group.^[1061] GCPEA collated information on 14 incidents of actual and attempted targeted killings by 'IS' or unidentified attackers in 2016, as well as abductions.^[1062] For example:

• Local media stated that, in January 2016, 'IS' executed several teachers and civil servants in Mosul because they refused to implement the group's curriculum, which they perceived to be ideologically extremist and to encourage violence.^[1063]

• On January 15, 2016, also according to UNAMI and OHCHR, 'IS' burned three female teachers to death in northern Mosul after accusing them of providing information to the ISF.^[1064]

• UNAMI and OHCHR reported that 'IS' abducted five male teachers in Mosul during the first week of January 2016 and killed another teacher at Palestine School in Mosul because he or she refused to teach the 'IS' curriculum.^[1065]

• In at least seven cases, unidentified attackers targeted education personnel across Iraq through killings and abductions, according to the CTFMR.^[1066]

There were at least five reported attacks against teachers and other education personnel in 2017:

• On January 16, 2017, the assistant director of a high school in Basra province was found dead after having been kidnapped from an unidentified location on January 14, according to media sources. The teachers' union that reported the attack accused the "enemies of humanity and education" of being responsible but did not name a specific group.^[1067]

• The Ministry of Education reported that, in January 2017, a group of soldiers in the Iraqi army had attacked teachers and other education personnel at a girls' school in Anbar province.^[1068]

• The UN received information that a teacher was killed in Baghdad city on April 9, 2017, by an explosive attached to his vehicle.^[1069]

• Human Rights Watch reported that six men who were masked and wearing military clothes broke into the home of a high school principal on October 30, 2017, in Daquq city, Kirkuk governorate, and killed him. The principal was an active member of the Kurdistan Democratic Party and a part-time cameraman for a party news outlet.^[1070]

• On November 4, 2017, unidentified attackers kidnapped a school guard and his son in Diyala governorate, according to media sources. The outcome of the kidnapping was unknown.^[1071]

Military use of schools and universities

Iraqi forces, 'IS', Peshmerga forces (Kurdish military forces), and other armed groups used dozens of educational institutions. It was not always clear how these institutions were used, but in some cases they served as bases, detention centers, and shields from attack, among other military purposes.^[1072]

Perhaps most notably, 'IS' used Mosul University as a base throughout much of the reporting period, from June 2014 until January 2017, when the ISF regained control of the area. 'IS' used university buildings as weapons workshops, barracks, and execution sites; damaged and destroyed university facilities; and attempted to change the university syllabus.^[1073] According to UN Habitat, which mapped damage in the area, multiple university buildings were severely damaged as a result of 'IS' use.^[1074] Military use of schools and universities appeared to increase throughout the reporting period, in contrast to the 2009-2013 period covered by Education under Attack 2014, during which no military use of schools or universities was documented.

While no cases of military use were documented in 2013, multiple parties to the conflict used schools for military purposes in 2014, resulting in at least one school being demolished by opposing forces.^[1075] According to the UN, 'IS' used three schools in the Anbar and Diyala governorates, ISF used two in the Salah al-Din governorate, and Peshmerga forces used one in Mosul.^[1076] In several cases reported by human rights groups and the UN, 'IS' used schools as detention, torture, and killing centers in their persecution of members of the Yezidi minority group. The reported cases in which 'IS' used educational institutions included the following:

• At least one university was used temporarily during 2014. According to a news report, in June 2014, members of 'IS' stormed Anbar University and detained dozens of students inside a dormitory before the gunmen left the university a few hours later.^[1077]

• On August 15, 2014, 'IS' fighters assembled Yezidi residents of a village in Kocho in a secondary school, separating men and boys from women and girls.^[1078] All males older than 10 years old were driven away and shot. As many as 400 men and boys were killed.^[1079]

• According to the UN, on August 2014, 'IS' took children between the ages of 8 and 15 to different locations in Iraq and beyond, including a school in Tal Afar and a school on the outskirts of Raqqa, Syria. Trainings typically lasted from 13 days to three weeks. The children learned to shoot live ammunition and were forced to watch videos of beheadings. Some who refused to watch were severely beaten.^[1080]

• On November 11, 2014, the vacated Industrial High School in Baiji was destroyed by IEDs allegedly placed there by 'IS', as the ISF had previously used it as a military base.^[1081]

According to the UN, between January and June 2015, 'IS', ISF, and the Peshmerga used seven schools for military purposes and as screening sites in cities throughout Iraq (four by 'IS', two by the ISF, and one by the Peshmerga).^[1082] Several of the educational institutions being used by armed forces or groups were either targeted by opposing forces or damaged in fighting. For example:

• In Mosul, on July 9, 2015, air strikes from an unknown source that UNAMI stated were intended to strike al-Ameen Secondary School, which was occupied by 'IS' fighters at the time, hit a marketplace, killing 11 civilians and wounding 12.^[1083]

• According to information reported by Al Fanar Media, after Iraqi forces took back control of Tikrit University from 'IS', the military used the campus as a base for five months. The university had been heavily damaged in fighting between 'IS' and Iraqi forces while it was occupied.^[1084]

Reports of military use of schools rose significantly in 2016, with the UN documenting 38 cases, most involving 'IS'. According to the UN, 'IS' reportedly used 34 schools as combat positions, weapons depots, or training facilities in Anbar, Kirkuk, and Nineveh, while ISF used three schools in Nineveh as screening centers, and the Popular Mobilization Forces used one school in Nineveh.^[1085] Separately, the UN, human rights groups, and media sources reported at least eight cases of armed groups using schools to detain civilians and as bases and strategic positions.^[1086] For example:

• On June 5, 2016, during clashes between two clans, armed men reportedly broke into five schools in Basra and used them as firing positions. Several of the schools were damaged in the fighting, according to UNAMI and OHCHR.^[1087]

• The UN reported that, in November 2016, 'IS' allegedly used a school in Tal Afar to sell an unknown number of Yezidi women to the group's fighters.^[1088] The UN report did not specifically indicate for what purpose the Yezidi women were sold, but during the reporting period rights organizations and media sources documented a pattern of 'IS' fighters forcibly marrying Yezidi women and using them as sex slaves.^[1089]

• In December 2016, Human Rights Watch reported that a Yezidi militia was using a boys' secondary school in Khanasoor as barracks.^[1090]

• Al Fanar Media reported that Iraqi forces used Anbar University in Ramadi as a military base from 2015, when they retook the campus from 'IS', until September 2016. 'IS' had previously looted the university's labs, and fighting between ISF and 'IS' had caused extensive damage to many of the buildings, according to a professor interviewed by the news source.^[1091]

The UN verified 22 cases of military use in 2017.^[1092] GCPEA separately identified reports of five cases in which armed groups used schools as detainment centers, training centers, or headquarters. It was not clear whether any of these cases overlapped with those verified by the MRM. They included the following:

• According to the UN, a primary school in eastern Mosul was used as the headquarters of an unidentified armed group from the beginning of January 2017 through at least February 2017.^[1093]

• Human Rights Watch reported that, in late April 2017, the Popular Mobilization Forces detained at least 100 men in a school building and a home near Mosul, interrogating them about their connections to 'IS' and torturing them.^[1094]

• According to Human Rights Watch, Peshmerga soldiers used a school in the village of Saleh al-Malih near Tal Afar in Nineveh governorate as a detainment center in late August 2017. Women interviewed by Human Rights Watch described how Peshmerga forces beat the boys and men after separating them from the girls and women. On August 28, 2017, a foreign woman detonated a bomb at the school as she was being checked by female Peshmerga soldiers, killing and wounding solders and displaced people, including one child and two women.^[1095]

• On September 17, 2017, a bomb exploded at a school near Tal Afar, Nineveh governorate, according to media sources. The school was being used for training by the Tribal Mobilization, a pro-government paramilitary force.^[1096]

• Human Rights Watch interviewed women who reported that Iraqi forces detained them in a school in Hawija, Kirkuk governorate, on September 22, 2017. The detainment occurred during Iraqi forces' operation to retake Haqija from 'IS', and the women told Human Rights Watch that the soldiers questioned them about the identity of villagers affiliated with 'IS'.^[1097]

Child recruitment at, or en route to or from, school

There were widespread reports by UN, NGO, and media sources that armed groups, particularly 'IS', mandated that school children participate in their trainings or join their groups, and required teachers to encourage students to join. Additionally, a media report indicated that 'IS' kidnapped more than 100 children from their places of study to give them military training and use them in combat. 1098 Child recruitment from schools was not included in the Iraq profile of Education under Attack 2014, thus it constituted a new finding during the 2013-2017 reporting period.

Reports of child recruitment from schools included the following:

• On March 10, 2014, unidentified armed men kidnapped an 8-year-old girl outside her school in Utafiyya, Baghdad. She was later found wearing a fake explosive belt. The girl's father had been a candidate in parliamentary elections that took place in 2010.^[1099]

• In 2014 there were reports that 'IS' mandated that students participate in combat training and join the group after completing school.^[1100]

• On May 23, 2014, 'IS' announced at schools and universities in Nineveh governorate that all male students must join the group after completing their exams.^[1101]

• In April 2015, the International Business Times reported that 'IS' had kidnapped 120 school children from their classrooms at a school in Mosul. Local media reported that the group loaded the children onto military vehicles and took them away. It was predicted that most of the children would be trained as 'IS' fighters, while those belonging to wealthy families would be released upon payment of a ransom.^[1102]

• According to the UN, on June 5, 2015, the influential Shiite cleric Grand Ayatollah al-Sistani called upon all students to use their summer break for military training in the fight against 'IS', which resulted in several schools being converted to religious and military training camps for children in Baghdad, Diyala, Basra, and other southern governorates.^[1103]

• In 2016, Human Rights Watch reported patterns of child recruitment in areas of Iraq under the control of Kurdish forces at the time, including Sinjar province. In the cases in Sinjar, according to the rights group, teachers encouraged students to join groups affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers' Party.^[1104]

Quilliam and the Romeo Dallaire Foundation reported that, in addition to incidents of forced recruitment, 'IS' sought to recruit children through indoctrination in areas under their control. The group used schools as sites for indoctrination and "schooling in the 'caliphate,'" with rules set out by the Diwan al-Ta'aleem, the 'IS' equivalent of a Ministry of Education. Classrooms were mixed for the first year of school, and then segregated by gender from the ages of 6 to 15. Clothing had to comply with 'IS' laws, including head coverings for girls from first grade onward. The curriculum banned drawing, music, nationalism, history, philosophy, and social studies courses while including intensive Quranic studies, and it limited topics such as geography, using textbooks that named only continents, not countries. Physical education in particular reflected the use of education to recruit children, as it was renamed "jihadi training" and included the assembly and firing of weapons.^[1105]

Sexual violence by armed parties at, or en route to or from, school

Individual instances of sexual violence in the education context were not widely reported in the 2013-2017 period. However, a respondent interviewed during an Oxfam gender and conflict analysis reported that, in areas controlled by 'IS', adolescent girls were commonly harassed.^[1106] Additionally, there were several reported instances of schools used as sites for detaining, raping, and selling women and girls in what Human Rights Watch called cases of "systematic rape." For example:1107

• Amnesty International reported that on August 15, 2014, 'IS' assembled Yezidi residents of a village in Kocho in a secondary school, separating out women and children. There were reports that 'IS' also detained Yezidi women and children at schools in Tal Afar, Mosul, and Ba'aj cities around August 2014. Many of them were subjected to rape, sexual abuse, forced marriage to fighters, or slavery.^[1108]

• According to UNAMI and OHCHR, 'IS' held a group of women and girls at an abandoned school in Tal Afar between September 11 and December 10, 2014, and raped them.^[1109]

• In April 2016, Human Rights Watch reported that 'IS' was still detaining many women and girls in schools, moving them between Iraq and Syria, keeping them in sexual slavery, raping them, and buying and selling them in slave markets.^[1110]

Attacks on higher education

Explosives, air strikes, and arson affected university campuses, and 'IS' and unidentified gunmen killed and injured university students, personnel, and scholars in at least 70 incidents. According to Al Fanar Media, many of the buildings on 10 Iraqi university campuses were destroyed by bombs and mortar shells between 2014 and 2017, including Anbar, Fallujah, and Ma'arif universities in Anbar governorate; Tikrit and Samarra universities in Tikrit governorate; and Nineveh, Mosul, Hamdaniyah, Tal Afar, and Northern Technical universities in Nineveh governorate.^[1111] In most cases, the perpetrator of the attack was either unknown or identified as 'IS'. The 20132017 reporting period also saw an increase in reports of attacks on higher education over the period covered in Education under Attack 2014.

In 2013, GCPEA identified 11 instances of attacks on higher education in media reports.^[1112] These included bombings, shootings, and abductions of university students and personnel. For example:

• In March 2013, unidentified assailants reportedly killed four university personnel members in a bomb attack north of Tikrit.^[1113]

• In June 2013, it was reported that a suicide bomber attacked the campus of Tikrit University, killing a police officer.^[1114]

• On November 21, 2013, two Turkmen students were abducted as they returned from college, following anonymous threats against Turkmen students due to their ethnicity.^[1115]

• Unidentified gunmen reportedly fired on a bus carrying Turkmen Shia students from Tikrit University on December 17, 2013, injuring one student seriously.^[1116]

Media reports of attacks on higher education doubled in 2014 from the previous year, with 26 attacks on universities, students, or university personnel. Of these, six involved explosive devices planted in the vehicles of targeted professors and personnel, and five involved professors being shot and killed. The perpetrators of these 11 attacks remained unknown. The other incidents involved the detonation of explosives in institutions and other types of attacks.^[1117] The president of Mosul University stated that 'IS' was responsible for killing at least 56 lecturers between 2014 and late 2016, when ISF began operations to retake the city.^[1118] It was not clear whether any of these lecturers were those identified in individual incidents collated by GCPEA. Examples of attacks on students and professors included the following:

• In July 2014, 'IS' militants killed a professor from the University of Mosul after he spoke out against violence targeting Christians in that city.^[1119]

• Also in Mosul, on November 21-22, 2014, 'IS' killed 12 university students, according to the UN.^[1120]

In 2015 there were at least 10 media reports of attacks on higher education, of which six involved explosive devices planted in the vehicles of university administrators and professors in Baghdad; the others involved attacks on higher education institutions.^[1121] In several cases, 'IS' continued to target university students and professors and to destroy university property. For example:

• In January 2015, 'IS' burned hundreds of books from Mosul University's central library.^[1122]

• On March 15, 2015, 'IS' blew up two of Mosul University's laboratories.^[1123]

In 2016 there were at least five media reports of attacks on higher education.^[1124] In four instances, higher education personnel were reportedly targeted by explosive devices planted on their vehicles. No group claimed responsibility for any of these attacks. In the fifth case, an air strike hit a university. Examples included the following:

• Four professors were killed, one on each of the following dates in the indicated locations: in Baladiat, Baghdad governorate, on March 2, 2016;1125 in Amiriyah, Baghdad governorate, on June 20, 2016;1126 in Fallujah, Anbar governorate, on August 17, 2016;1127 and in Waziriya, Baghdad governorate, on November 3, 2016.^[1128]

• According to information received by the UN, air strikes hit the residential complex of a university sometime during 2016, killing the dean of one of the university colleges and his wife.^[1129]

In 2017 there was at least one reported attack on higher education, which occurred on August 19, when a bomb planted under a university professor's car exploded in western Baghdad. The professor was killed in the blast.^[1130]

1002 "Analysis: failing to address the root causes of violence in Iraq," IRIN, September 20, 2013, as cited in GCPEA, Education under Attack 2014, p. 147 The Current Situation in Iraq," United States Institute for Peace, September 1, 2017. UN Security Council, "Report of the SecretaryGeneral," S/2015/852, para. 43.

1003 Amnesty International, Amnesty International Report 2015/2016: The State of the World's Human Rights (London: Amnesty International, 2016), pp. 194-195. Amnesty International, Amnesty International Report 2014/2015: The State of the World's Human Rights (London: Amnesty International, 2015), p. 191.

1004 Amnesty International, Amnesty International Report 2015/2016, pp. 194-195. Amnesty International, Amnesty International Report 2014/2015, p. 191. "Islamic State and the crisis in Iraq and Syria in maps," BBC News, April 28, 2017.

1005 Human Rights Watch, World Report 2017, Iraq chapter.

1006 UNICEF, Nowhere to Go: Iraqi Children Trapped in Cycles of Violence (Baghdad, Iraq: UNICEF, June 2017), p. 4.

1007 Richard Spencer, "Islamic State issues new school curriculum in Iraq," Telegraph, September 16, 2014.

1008 Information shared by Human Rights Watch via email, November 2017. "Iraq: Women Suffer Under ISIS," Human Rights Watch news release, April 5, 2016.

1009 Josh Halliday, "Female jihadis publish guide to life under Islamic State," Guardian, February 5, 2015.

1010 UNAMI and OHCHR, Report on the Protection of Civilians in the Armed Conflict in Iraq: 11 December 2014-30 April 2015 (Baghdad: UNAMI and OHCHR, July 2015), p. 24.

1011 Luisa Dietrich and Simone E. Carter, Gender and Conflict Analysis in ISIS Affected Communities of Iraq (Oxford, UK: Oxfam, May 2017), p. 16.

1012 Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic, "'They came to destroy': ISIS Crimes Against the Yazidis," A/HRC/32/CRP.^[2] (Advance Version), June 15, 2016, paras. 49-50, 124.

1013 UNICEF, Nowhere to Go, pp. 4, 7.

1014 UN Security Council, "Report of the Secretary-General," S/2015/852, para. 43.

1015 A full list of references can be found on GCPEA's website, http://www.protectingeducation.org/education-under-attack-2018-references.

1016 UNAMI and OHCHR, Report on Human Rights in Iraq: January-June 2013 (Baghdad: UNAMI and OHCHR, August 2013), p. 3. UNAMI and OHCHR, Report on Human Rights in Iraq: July-December 2013 (Baghdad: UNAMI and OHCHR, June 2014), p. 18.

1017 UNAMI and OHCHR, Report on Human Rights in Iraq: January-June 2013, p. 3. UN General Assembly and Security Council, "Report of the Secretary-General," A/68/878-S/2014/339, para. 73. AFP, "Iraq suicide bomber kills three, wounds 100," Arab News, March 11, 2013.

1018 UNAMI and OHCHR, Report on Human Rights in Iraq: July-December 2013, p. 18. "Bomber kills 15 in attack on school in Iraq," Reuters, October 6, 2013. "Iraq violence: Bomber hit primary school," BBC News, October 6, 2013, as cited in GCPEA, Education under Attack 2014, p. 149. UN Security Council, "Report of the Secretary-General," S/2015/852, para. 44. UN General Assembly and Security Council, "Report of the Secretary-General," A/68/878S/2014/339, para. 74. "Iraq: Children and School Targeted in New Attack," Office of the Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict, October 7, 2013. Duraid Adnan, "Bombing at Elementary School Playground in Iraq Kills 13 Children," New York Times, October 6, 2013. Ben Van Heuvelen, "Car bombs kill scores in Iraq, in sign of growing strength of al-Qaeda affiliate ISIS," Washington Post, October 27, 2013.

1019 "Iraq: Roundup of Security-Related Issues 26 November-02 December 2013," OSC Summary, November 26, 2013," as cited in START, GTD 201311280007.

1020 A full list of references can be found on GCPEA's website, http://www.protectingeducation.org/education-under-attack-2018-references.

1021 UN General Assembly and Security Council, "Report of the Secretary-General," A/69/926S/2015/409, para. 75. The 67 reported incidents are not disaggregated by type of attack (e.g., military use, attacks on schools, or attacks on protected personnel). UNAMI reported 42 attacks on schools from January through June 2014 alone; see UNAMI and OHCHR, Report on Human Rights in Iraq: January-June 2014 (Baghdad: UNAMI and OHCHR, August 2015), p. iii.

1022 Information provided via email by a UN respondent, December 12, 2016.

1023 UN Security Council, "Report of the Secretary-General," S/2015/852, para. 43.

1024 UNAMI and OHCHR, Report on Human Rights in Iraq: January-June 2014, p. 19.

1025 UN General Assembly and Security Council, "Report of the Secretary General," A/70/836S/2016/360, para. 63.

1026 UN Security Council, "Report of the Secretary-General," S/2015/852, para. 44.

1027 "Bloodshed persists in Iraq as 44 killed in air strikes, clashes," Xinhua General News Service, June 16, 2015. "Iraq military airstrikes kill 30 Daesh militants in Salahuddin," Albawaba, June 16, 2015.

1028 "Iraq: Roundup of Security Incidents 23-30 November 2015," OSC Summary, November 23, 2015," as cited in START, GTD 201511290008.

1029 UN Security Council, "Third report of the Secretary-General pursuant to paragraph 7 of resolution 2233 (2015)," S/2016/396, April 27, 2016, para. 50. UN Security Council, "Fourth report of the Secretary-General pursuant to paragraph 7 of resolution 2233 (2015)," S/2016/592, July 5, 2016, para. 45. UN Security Council, "Report of the Secretary-General pursuant to resolution 2299 (2016)," S/2017/75, January 26, 2017, para. 45. UN General Assembly and Security Council, "Report of the Secretary-General," A/72/361-S/2017/821, para. 80.

1030 UN General Assembly and Security Council, "Report of the Secretary-General," A/72/361S/2017/821, para. 80.

1031 UN Security Council, "Third report of the Secretary-General," S/2016/396, para. 50. UN Security Council, "Fourth report of the Secretary-General," S/2016/592, para. 45. UN Security Council, "Report of the Secretary-General," S/2017/75, para. 45.

1032 "Islamic State mortar attack kills schoolchildren in Iraq town," New Arab, May 16, 2016.

1033 Information provided via email by a UN respondent, December 12, 2016.

1034 A full list of references can be found on GCPEA's website, http://www.protectingeducation.org/education-under-attack-2018-references.

1035 UN Habitat, Assessment-Educational Facilities, Mosul Mapping and Data Portal, April 20, 2017.

1036 Iraq Education Cluster, National Education Cluster Meeting Minutes, July 24, 2017, p. 2.

1037 Iraq Education Cluster, Salah al Din Sub-National Education Cluster Meeting Minutes, June 13, 2017.

1038 Information provided by a UN respondent, February 15, 2018

1039 A full list of references can be found on GCPEA's website, http://www.protectingeducation.org/education-under-attack-2018-references.

1040 Airwars, Reported civilian and "friendly fire" deaths from Coalition airstrikes January-February 2017 (London, UK: Airwars, 2017).

1041 Mohamed Mostafa, "Students, teachers killed, wounded in IS bombing of eastern Mosul school," Iraqi News, February 16, 2017.

1042 Noman Benotman and Nikita Malik, The Children of Islamic State, Quilliam and The Romeo Dallaire Foundation, March 2016, pp. 29, 32.

1043 UNAMI and OHCHR, Report on the Protection of Civilians: 11 December 2014 – 30 April 2015, p. 24. Richard Hall, "ISIS forced this Iraqi teacher to change all his lessons – 'it became all about death,'" Public Radio International, January 24, 2017. "Iraqi children dump Islamic State's books of violence," Reuters, November 18, 2016.

1044 UN General Assembly and Security Council, "Report of the Secretary-General," A/68/878S/2014/339, para. 75.

1045 A full list of references can be found on GCPEA's website, http://www.protectingeducation.org/education-under-attack-2018-references.

1046 UNAMI and OHCHR, Report on Human Rights in Iraq: January-June 2013, p. 13.

1047 Mohammed Tawfeeq, "Attacks kill 30 in Iraqi cities of Baghdad, Mosul," CNN, September 27, 2013.

1048 Benotman and Malik, The Children of Islamic State, pp. 29, 32. UN General Assembly and Security Council, "Report of the Secretary-General," A/69/926 – S/2015/409, para. 75.

1049 UNAMI and OHCHR, Report on the Protection of Civilians, 11 December 2014-30 April 2015, p. 24.

1050 Xinhua, "11 killed in separate attacks across Iraq," Global Times China, February 26, 2014. "Iraq: Roundup of Security Incidents 24 February-03 March 2014," OSC Summary, March 3, 2014," as cited in START, GTD 201402250033.

1051 "Statement: Critical time for security to be restored for all citizens in Iraq," Education International, June 30, 2014.

1052 "ISIL seizes more Iraqi towns (video)," Malay Mail Online, June 24, 2014.

1053 UNAMI and OHCHR, Report on the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict in Iraq: 6 July-10 September 2014 (Baghdad: UNAMI and OHCHR, September 2014), p. 14.

1054 A full list of references can be found on GCPEA's website, http://www.protectingeducation.org/education-under-attack-2018-references.

1055 UN General Assembly and Security Council, "Report of the Secretary-General," A/70/836 – S/2016/360, para. 63.

1056 UNAMI and OHCHR, Report on the Protection of Civilians, 11 December 2014-30 April 2015, p. 24. Benotman and Malik, The Children of Islamic State, pp. 29-31.

1057 Benotman and Malik, The Children of Islamic State, p. 29.

1058 UNAMI and OHCHR, Report on the Protection of Civilians in the Armed Conflict in Iraq: 1 May-31 October 2015 (Baghdad: UNAMI and OHCHR, January 2016), p. 29.

1059 UN General Assembly and Security Council, "Report of the Secretary-General," A/70/836 – S/2016/360, para. 63.

1060 Spencer, "Islamic State issues."

1061 UN General Assembly and Security Council, "Report of the Secretary-General," A/72/361S/2017/821, para. 80.

1062 A full list of references can be found on GCPEA's website, http://www.protectingeducation.org/education-under-attack-2018-references.

1063 "Teachers executed in Mosulfor refusing ISIS school curriculum," Rudaw, January 4, 2016. Michelle Mark, "Islamic State Executes Mosul Teachers: ISIS Punishes Educators for Protesting Sharia Curriculum," International Business Times, January 7, 2016.

1064 UNAMI and OHCHR, Report on the Protection of Civilians in the Armed Conflict in Iraq: 1 November 2015-30 September 2016 (Baghdad: UNAMI and OHCHR, December 2016), p. 11.

1065 UNAMI and OHCHR, Report on the Protection of Civilians, 1 November 2015-30 September 2016, pp. 10-11.

1066 Information provided via email by a UN respondent, December 12, 2016.

1067 "Iraqi teachers unsafe in own classrooms," Al Monitor, January 31, 2017.

1068 "Iraqi teachers unsafe." Mohaned, Al Noor News, January 16, 2017.

1069 Information provided via email by a UN respondent, December 12, 2016.

1070 Human Rights Watch, "Iraq: Investigate Killing of School Principal, Cameraman," Human Rights Watch press release, November 2, 2017.

1071 "Education under Attack Monthly News Brief," Insight Insecurity, November 2017, p. 2.

1072 UNAMI and OHCHR, Report on the Protection of Civilians, 6 July-10 September 2014, pp. 5, 7, 19, 23. "Shiite militias prepare for education 'revolution,'" Al-Monitor, April 21, 2017.

1073 MacDiarmid, "Mosul University after ISIL." "Iraqi forces raise flag." Nuseir al-Ojeili, "Mosul University students."Iraq: Bombed and burnt."

1074 UN Habitat, Assessment.

1075 Information provided via email by a UN respondent, December 12, 2016. UNAMI and OHCHR, Report on the Protection of Civilians, 6 July-10 September 2014, p. 19. UNAMI and OHCHR, Report on the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict in Iraq: 11 September-10 December 2014 (Baghdad: UNAMI and OHCHR, February 2015), p. 16.

1076 UN General Assembly and Security Council, "Report of the Secretary-General," A/69/926 – S/2015/409, para. 75.

1077 "Bombs Leave 52 Dead as Iraqi Militants Take Students Hostage Amid Violence," NBC News, June 7, 2014.

1078 Amnesty International, Ethnic Cleansing, p. 7. "Iraq: ISIS Escapees Describe Systematic Rape-Yezidi Survivors in Need of Urgent Care," Human Rights Watch news release, April 14, 2015. "Iraq: Women Suffer Under ISIS-For Sunnis, Lives Curtailed; for Yezidis, New Accounts of Brutal Rapes," Human Rights Watch news release, April 5, 2016.

1079 UNAMI and OHCHR, Report on the Protection of Civilians, 6 July-10 September 2014, p. 14.

1080 UN General Assembly, "Report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on the Human Rights Situation in Iraq in the Light of Abuses Committed by the So-called Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant and Associated Groups," A/HRC/28/18, March 13, 2015, para. 45.

1081 UN General Assembly and Security Council, "Report of the Secretary-General," A/69/926 – S/2015/409, para. 75.

1082 UN Security Council, "Report of the Secretary-General," S/2015/852, para. 45.

1083 UNAMI and OHCHR, Report on the Protection of Civilians, 1 May-31 October 2015, p. 26.

1084 Gilgamesh Nabeel, "10 Iraqi Universities Rebuild In Wake of Islamic State," Al Fanar Media, July 4, 2017.

1085 UN General Assembly and Security Council, "Report of the Secretary-General," A/72/361S/2017/821, para. 81.

1086 A full list of references can be found on GCPEA's website, http://www.protectingeducation.org/education-under-attack-2018-references.

1087 UNAMI and OHCHR, Report on the Protection of Civilians, 1 November 2015-30 September 2016, p. 33.

1088 UN Security Council, "Report of the Secretary-General," S/2017/75, para. 41.

1089 "Iraq: ISIS Escapees Describe Systematic Rape," Human Rights Watch news release, April 14, 2015. Rukmini Callimachi, "ISIS Enshrines a Theology of Rape," New York Times, August 14, 2015. Belkis Wille, "What Will Happen to the Yezidi Sex Slaves in Mosul?" New Statesman, October 31, 2016.

1090 "Iraq: Armed Groups Using Child Soldiers," Human Rights Watch news release, December 22, 2016.

1091 Nabeel, "10 Iraqi Universities."

1092 Information provided by a UN respondent, February 15, 2018.

1093 Information provided by a UN respondent, June 8, 2017.

1094 "Iraq: Scores of Men Imprisoned in Schoolhouse," Human Rights Watch news release, May 22, 2017.

1095 Bill Van Esveld, "Iraq/KRG: 1,400 Women, Children From ISIS Areas Detained," Human Rights Watch news release, September 20, 2017.

1096 Mohamed Mostafa, "Fifteen people killed in school bombing in Mosul," Iraqi News, September 17, 2017.

1097 Human Rights Watch, "Iraq: Investigate Abuses in Hawija Operation," Human Rights Watch news release, September 28, 2017.

1098 Jerome Anthony, "Isis: Islamists kidnap 120 schoolchildren in Mosul," International Business Times, April 12, 2015.

1099 UNAMI and OHCHR, Report on Human Rights in Iraq: January-June 2013, p. 3.

1100 "Mosul's Children Lured to Islamic State to Swell Ranks," Bloomberg News, October 30, 2014.

1101 UNAMI and OHCHR, Report on the Protection of Civilians, 1 May-31 October 2015, p. 18. UN General Assembly, "Technical Assistance Provided to Assist in the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights in Iraq-Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights," A/HRC/30/66, July 27, 2015, para. 37. UN Security Council, "Fourth report of the SecretaryGeneral pursuant to paragraph 6 of resolution 2169," S/2015/530, July 13, 2015, para. 49.

1102 Anthony, "Isis: Islamists kidnap."

1103 UN Security Council, "Report of the Secretary-General," S/2015/852, para. 35.

1104 "Iraq: Armed Groups."

1105 Benotman and Malik, The Children of Islamic State, pp. 29-31.

1106 Dietrich and Carter, Gender and Conflict, p. 15.

1107 "Iraq: ISIS Escapees."

1108 Amnesty International, Ethnic Cleansing, pp. 7-8, 14, 16.

1109 UNAMI and OHCHR, Report on the Protection of Civilians, 11 September-10 December 2014, pp. 6, 13-14.

1110 "Iraq: Women Suffer Under ISIS."

1111 Nabeel, "10 Iraqi Universities Rebuild."

1112 A full list of references can be found on GCPEA's website, http://www.protectingeducation.org/education-under-attack-2018-references.

1113 "Policeman and 4 university teachers by car bomb in Ameen Square, Baiji, north of Tikrit," IBC/AIN/Al-Forat, March 19, 2013, as cited in GCPEA, Education under Attack 2014, p. 149. It is not clear whether they were targeted as university staff members.

1114 OSameer Yacoub, "Series of bomb attacks in Iraq kill at least 42," AP, June 24, 2013, as cited in GCPEA, Education under Attack 2014, p. 149.

1115 UNAMI and OHCHR, Report on Human Rights in Iraq: July-December 2013, p. 20.

1116 UNAMI and OHCHR, Report on Human Rights in Iraq: July-December 2013, p. 20.

1117 A full list of references can be found on GCPEA's website, http://www.protectingeducation.org/education-under-attack-2018-references.

1118 "Iraq: Bombed and burnt Mosul University hopes to once again be top Iraqi school," Rudaw, January 16, 2017.

1119 "The Muslim who gave up his life for Mosul's Christians," Vatican Insider, July 27, 2014. Billy Hallowell, "Muslim Professor Reportedly Pays the Ultimate Price for Defending Iraqi Christians Against Radicals," Blaze, July 22, 2014.

1120 UN Security Council, "Second report of the Secretary-General pursuant to paragraph 7 of resolution 2233," S/2016/77, January 26, 2016, para. 49.

1121 A full list of references can be found on GCPEA's website, http://www.protectingeducation.org/education-under-attack-2018-references.

1122 UNAMI and OHCHR, Report on the Protection of Civilians, 11 December 2014-30 April 2015, p. 18.

1123 UNAMI and OHCHR, Report on the Protection of Civilians, 11 December 2014-30 April 2015, p. 24.

1124 A full list of references can be found on GCPEA's website, http://www.protectingeducation.org/education-under-attack-2018-references.

1125 "Iraq: Roundup of Security Incidents 1-6 March 2016," OSC Summary, March 1, 2016," as cited in START, GTD 201603020002.

1126 "Iraq Roundup of Security Incidents 14-20 June 2016," Summary, June 14, 2016," as cited in START, GTD 201606200005.

1127 "Iraq: Security Roundup 1900 GMT 17 August 2016," Summary, August 17, 2016," as cited in START, GTD 201608170008.

1128 "Iraq Roundup of Security Incidents 31 October-7 November 2016," Summary, October 31, 2016," as cited in START, GTD 201611030001.

1129 Information provided via email by a UN respondent, December 12, 2016.

1130 Nehal Mostafa, "University professor, soldier killed in two western Baghdad bomb blasts," Iraqi News, Aug 19, 2017.