Universities in the line of fire

Islamic State of Iraq and Syria militants and Iraqi government forces reportedly clashed last week on the campus of Tikrit University, one of several major public universities in Iraq – along with the universities of Anbar and Mosul – writes Elizabeth Redden for Inside Higher Ed.

According to a Reuters report, Iraqi government helicopters landed in the university stadium – one crash-landed – after which fierce fighting ensued in the colleges of agriculture and sports education.

"The universities are squarely in the line of fire in this conflict," said Jim Miller, the director of the Institute of International Education's Scholar Rescue Fund, which has been gathering information on the situation in Iraq from its more than 250 fellowship grantees there.
Full report on the Inside Higher Ed site