News / Syria

Teachers, students stage protest in Syria’s Hasakah as SDF militants occupy schools

Thursday, 17 September 2020 1:07 PM [ Last Update: Thursday, 17 September 2020 1:18 PM ]

Students and education staff take part in a protest in front of Hasakah Education Directorate in the city of Hasakah, northeastern Syria, on September 17, 2020 to condemn the seizure of educational centers by US-sponsored militants affiliated with the so-called Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). (Photo by SANA)

Dozens of teachers and students have staged a protest in Syria’s northeastern province of Hasakah against the takeover of schools by militants affiliated with the so-called Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which has prevented thousands of pupils from attending classes.

The protesters gathered in front of the Education Directorate in the provincial capital city of Hasakah on Thursday to slam SDF terrorists for assault on educational staff and students of a high school for gifted students.

Students and education staff take part in a protest in front of the Education Directorate in the city of Hasakah in Syria on September 17, 2020 against the seizure of educational centers by militants affiliated with the so-called Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). (Photo by SANA)

The demonstrators hoisted placards denouncing the takeover of educational centers by SDF militants as a “US-Israeli plot," and called on the US-backed militants to leave schools.

The participants said the extremists planned to deprive thousands of children and youths from education.

Students and education staff protest in the Syrian city of Hasakah on September 17, 2020 to condemn the seizure of educational centers by SDF militants. (Photo by SANA)

The Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates said on Tuesday that SDF militants continue their arbitrary practices against local populations, where they are positioned, and tend to intimidate and deprive children and adolescents of the education they require.

Students and education staff take part in a protest in Hasakah, Syria, on September 17, 2020 to condemn the seizure of educational centers by SDF militants. (Photo by SANA)

“SDF terrorists have systematically continued their violations [against Syria’s education sector] since 2013, when they sought to impose their own curricula on schools. They later escalated their acts to forcibly take over schools, and turn them into training bases and prisons under US support,” an unnamed source at the foreign ministry said in a statement released on Tuesday.

The source added that Syrian people firmly reject such violations, and are determined to send their children to state schools.

US-backed SDF abducts, forces locals in Syria’s Hasakah for fighting

The US-backed SDF militant group kidnaps and forces locals in Syria’s Hasakah province to fight in their ranks.

Security conditions are reportedly deteriorating in SDF-controlled areas in Syria’s northern and eastern provinces of Hasakah, Dayr al-Zawr and Raqqah amid ongoing raids and arrests of civilians by the militants.

Local Syrians complain that the SDF’s constant raids and arrest campaigns have generated a state of frustration and instability, severely affecting their businesses and livelihood.

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