Omran’s elder brother dies in Aleppo
The elder brother of Omran Daqneesh, the Syrian boy whose bloodied and shell-shocked image shook the world’s conscience, has died from the wounds he last week sustained in an air strike, activists and doctors said.
Activists from the embattled city say ten-year-old Ali Daqneesh was playing outside the boys’ home in Aleppo last week when an air strike on Wednesday destroyed it.
Omran, 5, was pulled out of the rubble relatively unharmed, but dazed and shocked. An image of the little boy sitting in an ambulance, his face bloodied and entire body caked in dust, was widely circulated and made world headlines. It was seen as a chilling reminder of the bloody cost of Syria’s war, now in its sixth year, which has killed more than 300,000 people.
His brother was not as fortunate. Doctors and activists in Aleppo say Ali died of internal bleeding and organ damage due to more severe injuries. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based monitoring group, said Ali’s death brought the total death toll of Syrian children to 100 in the past month. Twenty-seven of those children died in bombardment in Aleppo, the Observatory said.
President Bashar al-Assad’s forces, backed by Russian air power, have been pounding Aleppo in a battle that has become one of the fiercest in the Syrian conflict, as both Mr Assad and the rebels seeking his ouster aim to gain ground in the city. Aleppo, Syria’s largest city, is seen as a big prize in the conflict and has been divided in two between the warring sides. Rebels and government forces bombard each other daily with artillery strikes. But only Mr Assad and Moscow, which intervened militarily on his behalf last September, have the power to launch strikes from the skies.
Air strikes have been pounding the city’s rebel-held east daily, leading to high civilian casualties like those of the Daqneesh family. The bombardment has also imposed a near-siege on the city, making routes to bring in food and medicine a life-or-death journey.
UN Syria envoy Steffan de Mistura has been calling for a ceasefire to bring in necessary aid to places like Aleppo. He said he cancelled a humanitarian task force meeting after eight minutes last week because there was “no sense” to holding it at a time when fighting was blocking humanitarian access across the country.
Mr De Mistura said that more than 100 days have passed since aid workers have been able to send in food or medicine to besieged and embattled areas.