Video of stunned Syrian boy is latest symbol of the country’s constant pain
A 5-year-old Syrian boy sitting in shock in an ambulance is reminding the world about the sheer destruction of pro-government airstrikes amid the ongoing civil war.
Syrian or Russian jets struck the northern city of Aleppo on Wednesday, indiscriminately raining explosives on more than 300,000 civilians trapped in the eastern part of the city, which is held by rebels battling the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad.
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Bombs hit the family home of Omran Daqneesh, 5, who became the latest symbol of Syrian government bombing campaigns meant to drive rebel-held areas into submission as the war drags on in its sixth year. His parents and three of his siblings, ages 1, 6 and 11, were also rescued from the destroyed building.
Daqneesh was one of 12 children under the age of 15 treated on Wednesday, according to medical workers, who said that a similar number of children are victims of airstrikes on any given day in the besieged city. More than 450,000 people, including 50,000 children, have been killed during the war. Many deaths occur amid widespread airstrikes by the Syrian government and more recently its Russian allies. The rebels do not have an air force.
Video of the latest airstrike aftermath quickly spread online.
The video shows Daqneesh being taken from the rubble that was his home and placed in the back of an ambulance. Once sitting, the boy, in shock and covered with blood and dust, looks around and tries to wipe his face. Realizing that removing the carnage is futile, he looks at his hand and wipes it on the ambulance seat before continuing to stare off into the distance as more children are brought into the ambulance.
