Fit again, boy who symbolised Aleppo’s plight
NEW photographs have emerged of Omran Daqneesh, the little Syrian boy whose image was seen around the world as a symbol of the suffering of Aleppo.
Three-year-old Omran rose to global prominence last August after his home was bombed by Russian or Syrian regime forces in the final months of the siege of Aleppo.
In photographs published on social media, he appears healthy and recovered and is sitting on his father’s knee.
Omran’s image was widely used to illustrate the brutality of the Assad regime as it tried to crush the opposition in Aleppo, Syria’s largest city. But his family, like many others in rebel-held east Aleppo, are believed to have remained loyal to the regime throughout the siege. They refused all media interviews and reportedly went into regime-held west Aleppo when they had a chance.
The family was interviewed this week by several pro-regime Syrian and Lebanese television channels. In a clip from one interview, Omran’s father said rebel groups and the international media wanted to use his son to attack the Syrian regime. “They wanted to trade in his blood and published his photos,” he said. He said he shaved his son’s head to try to disguise him and shield him from media attention.
Omran’s older brother Ali, aged 10, was killed in the same strike that injured Omran.
Kinana Allouche, a pro-regime journalist, posted photographs of herself interviewing Omran and his family.
The siege of Aleppo ended in December last year, when a deal was reached to allow residents and fighters from east Aleppo to leave their homes and go into the countryside.