School used by Daesh as prison reopens in Syrian village

DEIR EZ-ZOR - A school in a Syrian village that was once used by militants of the Deash terrorist group as a prison has reopened amid the ongoing efforts of the Russian military and Syrian government to restore infrastructure in the east of the Deir ez-Zor province.

"The result of the work of the Committee for Governance of the Eastern Territories of Deir ez-Zor province is impressive. They include reopened schools, shops and hospitals, as well as people who are peacefully tilling the land," Russian Maj. Gen. Yevgeny Poplavsky told reporters at a ceremony devoted to reopening of the school in the Hatla village, located several miles from the capital city of the province.

The Committee started its work in early December 2017 with the support of the Russian Center for Syrian Reconciliation. The Committee includes representatives of all ethnic and religious groups living on the eastern bank of the Euphrates.

The Russian military brought textbooks, school kits and several tons of food to the village on the school’s opening day. A mobile medical station has also been deployed near the school. The school in Hatla is the largest in the suburbs of Deir ez-Zor. It opened over 40 years ago and was considered to be the best in the region.

When Daesh terrorists occupied the province, a part of the school was turned into a prison and was used as a site for mass executions, Ibrahim Hueij, the school's principal, told reporters.

"Terrorists turned the school into a prison. Many prisoners were kept here, in small rooms. Sometimes, up to a hundred people were crammed into one class room. They shot people in one of the rooms," Hueij added.