BAGHDAD (Reuters) - “My son told me, ‘Mom, I am afraid when I go to school there will be an explosion,’” sighed Iqbal Safi, bringing her six-year-old Ali to his first day at Jawad Salim primary school in central Baghdad.Ali, in a neat, turquoise, button-down short’sleeved shirt and blue jeans, listened quietly by her side.

“But he is so happy he is coming,” she said. “Usually he has to stay in our tiny flat. It is too dangerous to let him out, even to go to the kiosk down the street and buy juice.”

The start of Iraq’s school year was greeted with trepidation on Wednesday, but also joy, as parents accepted that their children might be in danger but hoped they would find relief from the boredom and fear of a city consumed by violence.

“We feel sorry for the students. How will they manage to study with all these bombings, killings and kidnappings?” said Suaad, an Arabic language teacher at nearby Zanabuq Primary School, asking that her surname not be used.

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