eua_2014_full.pdf?utm_content=buffer4a392&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter

PART III — COUNTRY PROFILeSWorld Food Programme-supported school in the Gedoregion. 1389Military use of schoolsBetween May 2008 and March 2010, armed groupsused at least 34 schools. 1390 In some cases, multiplegroups occupied the same school at different times.For example, Waaberi primary school located in Gedowas used by TFG forces, ASWJ, Ethiopian DefenceForces (EDF) and Al-Shabaab in August 2009. It wasused as a defensive fort, resulting in heavy damage tothe buildings. 1391Military use of schools continued in 2011 and 2012.According to the UN, Al-Shabaab used a school inElwak district, Gedo region, in August 2011, interruptingthe education of over 500 children; the schoolhad been used intermittently by armed groups sinceFebruary 2011. 1392 In December 2011, Al-Shabaabmilitia established an operations centre at asecondary school in Merka district, Lower Shabelleregion. 1393 TFG forces also reportedly used schools inMogadishu. 1394 A UN respondent reported that in 2012at least five schools in the Bay, Gedo and Hiraanregions of central and southern Somalia wereoccupied or used as hospitals, police stations orprisons by Al-Shabaab, EDF, Somali National ArmedForces (SNAF) and regional authorities, affecting some1,933 children. 1395 In late May 2012, following thetakeover of the Afgooye corridor by AMISOM and TFGforces, the TFG and its National Security Agency (NSA)rounded up dozens of people and used the AfgooyeSecondary School as a base and a detention centre. 1396Schools were also used as firing bases. Al-Shabaablaunched artillery attacks from school grounds,drawing return fire from TFG and AMISOM forces. Insome cases, students and teachers were inside. 1397 Forexample, Human Rights Watch reported that in 2010Al-Shabaab fighters used a school in Mogadishu as afiring position while students were still in the classrooms.Pro-government forces returned fire, and fiverockets hit the school compound. One rocket struckjust as the students were leaving, killing eight. 1398Al-Shabaab occupied some schools after they hadbeen closed due to insecurity, making it impossible forclasses to resume and risking damage or destructionof education facilities. Others were used as weaponscaches. 1399Child recruitment from schoolsWhen fighting intensified in Mogadishu in mid-2010,Al-Shabaab increasingly recruited children fromschools in order to fill its dwindling ranks. Boys andgirls were recruited from schools by force as well as byenticing them with propaganda and materialrewards. 1400 A number of children interviewed byHuman Rights Watch in May and June 2011 reportedthat Al-Shabaab members had taught in their classrooms,encouraging them to join the group andpromising ‘entry into paradise’ for those who diedfighting. 1401While the exact numbers of children recruited are notknown, the UN indicated that Al-Shabaab abducted anestimated 2,000 children for military training in2010. 1402 At least another 948 children were recruitedin 2011, mainly by Al-Shabaab and mostly fromschools and madrassas. 1403 Human Rights Watchreported that it had interviewed 23 Somali childrenrecruited or abducted by Al-Shabaab in 2010 and2011; 14 had been taken from schools or while enroute, which gives some indication of the extent towhich schools were ready sites for forced recruitmentand abduction. 1404 Of the 79 attacks on educationrecorded by the UN from January 2011 to December2012, 21 involved the recruitment of 244 children (21girls and 223 boys) from schools by anti-governmentelements. 1405Teachers and school managers also received ordersfrom Al-Shabaab and other armed groups to enliststudents or release them for training. 1406 The UNreported that in June 2010 alone, Al-Shabaab orderedteachers and school managers in Lower Shabelle torelease more than 300 students to be trained, threateningpunishment for failure to comply. 1407 In October2011, Al-Shabaab was reported to have closed two ofthe biggest schools in the capital of the lower Shabelleregion after the head teachers refused to recruitstudents to fight. 1408 In May 2011, the UN reported themurder of a teacher in the Hiraan region by Al-Shabaabfor having objected to child recruitment. 1409 InFebruary 2012, five teachers were reportedly arrested180