School robberies and kidnappings are rife in Baghdad as the residents of the Iraqi capital battle for normality
Tariq is a father of two small boys, and being a parent of school-going children in Baghdad carries with it ever-increasing concerns about their safety.
'Almost two or three times a month you hear of schools being robbed by armed gangs and of children being kidnapped from their classrooms or on their way to school,' he said.
The sheer lawlessness of the capital means that classrooms are a frontline in the battle for normality in a city where what passes as ordinary would be extraordinary anywhere else.
Either Tariq or his wife escort the children to school and then must check on them in their classroom two or three times daily.
'We have the Americans with all their armour, we have security groups but what we don't have is security,' he said. 'Gangs are targeting children to get parents to pay kidnap ransoms.