DAMASCUS, Oct. 9 (Xinhua) -- Some schools and universities in several towns across Syria's coastal province of Latakia have reportedly gone on strike on Thursday, a day after the abduction of a 13-year-old boy outside his school, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported.

The Britain-based war monitor said that anger and tension gripped Latakia and neighboring provinces of Tartous, Homs, and Hama after a string of violent incidents, including the killing of a teacher outside her school and the assault of a university student in the southwestern Syrian city of Daraa.

The latest unrest erupted after four armed men in a blue vehicle kidnapped Mohammad Qais Haider, an eighth-grade student, from outside Jamal Daoud School on Wednesday morning. Witnesses told the observatory that the assailants fired warning shots to disperse bystanders before fleeing to an unknown destination.

Haider, a resident of Latakia's Tenth Project neighborhood, was abducted in full view of students and pedestrians, the report said. Local emergency groups have since declared a state of alert, urging residents to provide any information that could help locate the child.

The observatory said residents and activists have called for a general strike across multiple provinces, urging families to keep their children home and shop owners to close businesses in protest against deteriorating security.

The extent of the strikes remained unverified independently, as schools in Damascus continued their regular operations.

No group has claimed responsibility for the abduction or the reasons behind it, but the observatory's report suggested it was sectarian-driven as the boy is from the Alawite minority, which has been subjected to numerous violations in the wake of the downfall of former President Bashar al-Assad, who belongs to the Alawite minority.

The Internal Security Directorate in Latakia province announced that it is closely following the abduction case.

In a statement posted on its official Telegram channel, the interior authorities said the security leadership has instructed relevant authorities to act immediately, launch an investigation, and gather all necessary information to uncover the circumstances of the incident and identify the perpetrators.

It added that "field efforts are ongoing around the clock, in coordination with various security units, to ensure the safe recovery of the child, the arrest of those involved, and their referral to justice." Enditem