Why are terrorists targeting schools and universities? - The Guardian

Attacks on educational institutions are on the rise and the motives are varied – from undermining the state to stalling education

• Pakistan attacks: at least 30 dead at Bacha Khan University
• Over the last 13 months there has been a series of extremely bloody attacks on schools, colleges and universities. On Wednesday Taliban suicide bombersmounted an assault in north-western Pakistan; just over a year ago the same movement attacked a school only 30 miles away,killing 150 people, most of them children. In April last year 147 were killed in a massacre at a university in northern Kenya by the Somalia-based al-Shabaab.
• Then there are hundreds, possibly thousands, of other incidents of violence directed at educational institutions, teachers or students across the world which have not been reported.
• Why would terrorists attack such targets? One obvious answer is because they can. Schools are usually unprotected. Embassies, military bases, even hotels are, after a decade and a half of rolling waves of terrorist violence across the world, now harder to hit.
• But there are other reasons, too. Terrorism aims to undermine the legitimacy and authority of a state. In many parts of the world, the local school is that state’s only tangible presence.
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Another goal is simply to stall education, of both girls and boys, though the former tends to prompt a greater reaction. In 2012 the Pakistani Taliban tried to kill a 15-year-old schoolgirl, Malala Yousufzai, who went on to become an international icon.

A more pragmatic aim may be to send a message to policymakers or even to the general public. - Read More

Why are terrorists targeting schools and universities? 

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