1n3gwx9

EDUCATION UNDER ATTACK 2014
330 in two raids on dormitories at Damascus and
Aleppo universities in Syria in 2011 and 2012. 98
Cases of abduction and torture were also reported in
some countries. In Sudan, a Darfuri student at the
University of Khartoum’s Department of Education
was reportedly seized by National Intelligence and
Security Service agents in front of the university on 10
February 2010. His body was found the next day in a
street in Khartoum and showed signs of torture. 99
Attacks on higher education facilities – damaging,
destroying or threatening university buildings and
campuses – occurred in 17 countries: Afghanistan,
Côte d’Ivoire, DRC, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel/Palestine,
Libya, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines,
Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. In
Nigeria, at least 15 universities were reported to have
received an email message in September 2011,
apparently from the violent Jihadist movement Boko
Haram, warning them that their campuses were on a
target list for bombings. 100 In Mexico, bombs were
sent to six university campuses or research institutes,
in some cases causing injury, and six more were listed
as targets, reportedly by a group opposing nano -
technology research. 101
Military use of higher education facilities
Military use of higher education facilities appears to
be less pervasive than military use of school facilities,
but has been a problem in several countries,
including Côte d’Ivoire, 102 Somalia 103 and Yemen; in
the latter, the breakaway First Armoured Division
forces occupied Sana’a University Old Campus in
2011, halting university life for 10 months. 104 In
Somalia, university campuses were used by the
armed group Al-Shabaab, as well as by African Union
forces in the international peacekeeping force,
AMISOM, and government troops, particularly during
2012 military campaigns that drove Al-Shabaab out of
their strongholds. 105
Motives and targets
The motives for attacks on higher education also
varied from one context to another, but were often
quite different from those for attacks on school-level
education and bore a closer resemblance to those for
attacks on teacher trade unionists. Many attacks on
57