Baby who lost an eye in Syria war arrives in Turkey
— A baby boy who lost an eye in a Syrian regime air raid has arrived in Turkey, after his plight was highlighted by social media, the Turkish Red Crescent said.
“Alhamdulillah (Praise be to God... baby Kerim is safe now,” Kerem Kinik, head of the Turkish Red Crescent tweeted.
The child, who was just five weeks old when he was injured, will “survive on behalf of all innocent children of Syria” and “remind us that we have a conscience as humanity,” he added.
President Recep Erdogan personally greeted little Karim Abdallah, now six months old, and surviving members of his family after their arrival in the Turkish border province of Hatay, according to Turkish media.
Karim lost his left eye in an air raid last October, in the oppositionheld area of Eastern Ghouta, which also killed his mother.
The damage to his frontal lobe and left eye will likely leave him suffering long-term effects, said the brain surgeon who treated him and who identified himself as Abu Jamil.
“The frontal lobe plays an essential role in a human being’s comprehension, intelligence, and memory,” said the 50-year-old doctor who added that it could be “treatable with behavioral and cognitive therapy and cosmetic surgery, but not in Ghouta.”
Fighters leaving Ghouta holdout
DOUMA (AFP) — The Syrian regime on Sunday drew closer to taking full control of rebel bastion Eastern Ghouta after a deal appeared to be reached for fighters and civilians to leave the enclave’s last opposition pocket.
The agreement brokered by government ally Moscow would see fighters with the Jaish al-Islam rebel faction leave Ghouta’s main town of Douma for opposition territory in northern Syria, state media and a monitoring group.
There was no immediate confirmation from the rebels, but Russia’s military said it had “reached a preliminary agreement for the withdrawal” of the group from Eastern Ghouta near Damascus.
No date was given for the pullout and Moscow said rebels were expected to demine buildings and clear roadblocks before leaving.
The retaking of Eastern Ghouta would mark a major milestone in President Bashar al-Assad’s efforts to regain control of territory seized by rebel factions during Syria’s seven-year civil war.