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Omran Daqneesh: The new face of Syrian sufferings

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There is no end in sight for sufferings and atrocities in Syria. What makes this war even more heart-wrenching is the images that come out of the war-torn country and seeing little lives suffer over vain power struggles. Omran Daqneesh, a five year old boy, has become the newest 'face' of Syria, as he sits dazed and bloodied after he’s rescued from rubble and the wreckage that resulted from Russian airstrikes on the Syrian city of Aleppo. His expression embodies Syria and his city - where only death and destrcution is certain. It was scarcely a year ago when Aylan Kurdi’s image was plastered over media. The toddler’s dead body was washed ashore a Turkish beach and photographed in what became the most haunting image of 2016. It reduced world leaders to tears when addressing the situation in Syria. However it didn’t take us long to move onto other topics and issues, forgetting the dire situation in Syria, and the plight of innumerable Aylans and Omrans in the war-beleaguered country. This time again an image from Syria has gone ‘viral’ and is ‘trending’ on social media. The most apt rendition of the situation comes from Khalid Albaih, a Sudanese cartoonist based in Qatar who shared the choices available to Syrian children in an Instagram post. The post has gone viral too. In the hours that followed, more disturbing news about Omran started trickling in. News that would disturb us, but is commonplace in Syria. Omran survived his injuries and the medics treating him at the Aleppo hospital say that he didn’t show any apparent signs of brain damage, though he was in a state of shock after being rescued. His parents could not be located earlier, but subsequent reports suggest they survived the air strikes as well. While Omran caught the world’s attention, there was another little boy who was also brought to the hospital to be treated a little after him. Ibrahim Hadiri did not survive. While his image was also shared, it didn’t garner as much attention. The world has already moved on to another news day.

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