Photos show Syrian students returning to schools stripped bare by conflict

Students attend class inside the Maar Shmarin Primary School, its walls scarred by bullet holes from the fighting between forces loyal to former President Bashar Assad and rebel groups, in the village of Maar Shmarin, in the Idlib countryside, Syria, Sunday, Oct. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)

By Ghaith Alsayed And Omar Sanadiki, The Associated Press

Posted Oct 31, 2025 03:15:26 AM.

Last Updated Oct 31, 2025 03:31:58 AM.

In the southern Idlib countryside, once a frontline in Syrian civil war, residents are trickling back to their villages after years in exile.

Repairing and reopening damaged and looted schools is key to the return of the displaced, but nearly a year after former President Bashar Assad was ousted in a rebel offensive, hundreds of schools are still destroyed.

Millions of children in Syria remain out of school, while others are attending class in gutted buildings without basic supplies.

This is a photo gallery curated by AP photo editors.

Ghaith Alsayed And Omar Sanadiki, The Associated Press

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