Islamic State locks 670,000 children out of Syrian schools

As the militant group continues to vie for positions in Iraq and Syria, Islamic State forces shut down schools in three Syrian provinces until the curriculum was revised to comply with religious rules, the U.N. children’s agency UNICEF said Tuesday.

The militants imposed the school closures late last year, UNICEF said in a statement, affecting an estimated 670,000 children in the Raqqa, Deir ez-Zor and Aleppo provinces, all within the now rebel-controlled areas of eastern Syria.

“In addition to lack of school access, attacks on schools, teachers and students are further horrific reminders of the terrible price Syria’s children are paying in a crisis approaching its fifth year,” Hanaa Singer, UNICEF representative in Syria, said in the statement.

As the Islamic State group seizes control of more land in the Middle East, the newly required territory becomes a “caliphate” governed by strict Islamic law.

UNICEF estimated there were at least 68 attacks on Syrian schools in the last year, adding that “the real numbers are expected to be higher.” At least 160 children were killed and another 343 wounded in those attacks, Reuters reported.

Since Monday, the U.S. military and its allies conducted 10 air strikes against Islamic State strongholds in both Syria and Iraq, in a broader campaign that was launched in August, Reuters reported.