Over 150 Teenage Kurdish Students Reportedly Abducted by Syrian Militants

A militant group that used to be affiliated with al Qaeda has reportedly abducted over 150 teenage Kurdish students in Syria.

The militant group, Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), has kidnapped the male students who are between the ages of 15 to 18, and is holding them hostage at a Sharia law school where they are being forced to take Islamic training, CNN reports.

“They are training them in Islam and prayer, but we are afraid that they are teaching them to carry out operations in Kobani. We are very concerned that they will use the children for their terrorism,” says Nouri Mahmoud, a member of the local Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD). 

The Syrian government reportedly refused to set up exam-testing centres in the Kurdish-controlled city of Kobani. As a result, over 1,500  students had to travel to Aleppo to take their year-end exams. 

Last week, ISIS allegedly stopped the buses driving students back from exams to their hometown of Kobani and kidnapped the boys despite an agreement with the local community to let the Kurdish students pass the town safely without any form of harassment. 

Photo Credit: www.bbc.com