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A shocked Syrian boy pictured sitting in an ambulance covered in blood and dust after an air strike became a symbol of civilian suffering in Aleppo Thursday, drawing worldwide attention.
The shocked boy, a four-year-old named Omran, is pictured sitting in an ambulance covered in blood and dust after an air strike Wednesday in the rebel-held district of Qaterji in the southeast of Aleppo, which has been devastated by the five-year war.
The haunting image of Omran sitting dazed and bloodied in an ambulance reverberated around the globe, much like the photo of three-year-old Aylan Kurdi whose body washed ashore on a Turkish beach last year.
Four-year-old Omran is carried into an ambulance by emergency services after being rescued following the bombing in a rebel-held neighbourhood of Aleppo.
As international concern mounted, President Bashar al-Assad's key ally Russia said it was ready to halt fire in the battleground northern city for 48-hour "humanitarian pauses" from next week.
The announcement followed pleas from the United Nations and the European Union for a halt in the fighting in divided Aleppo to allow aid deliveries.
"I've taken a lot of pictures of children killed or wounded in the strikes that rain down daily," said photographer Mahmoud Rslan who captured the image.
Opposition-held neighbourhoods in the city are frequently targeted by air strikes including barrel bombs dropped by regime helicopters.
Syrian and Russian aircraft have been carrying out intense air strikes this week on opposition strongholds across northern Syria to prevent rebels sending reinforcements to Aleppo, a monitoring group said.
Air strikes on Idlib city, 60 kilometres (35 miles) southwest of Aleppo, killed 25 people including 15 civilians on Wednesday, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Photographer Mahmoud Rslan, who captured the image of Omran, said the shell-shocked boy was "speechless, staring blankly".
Torture On "massive scale"
The Syrian conflict has killed more than 290,000 people and displaced millions since it began in 2011 with the brutal repression of anti-government demonstrations.
More than 17,700 people are estimated to have died in custody in Syria since then, an average of more than 300 each month, Amnesty International said Thursday.
Syrian authorities were committing torture on a "massive scale" in government prisons including beatings, electric shocks, rape and psychological abuse that amount to crimes against humanity, the watchdog said.
Syria's war now involves a range of combatants including Western- and Gulf-backed rebels, jihadists, Kurds and pro-regime forces supported by Russia and Iran.
On Thursday regime aircraft bombed Kurdish positions for the first time since the conflict erupted, hitting several checkpoints and bases in the northeastern city of Hasakeh, an AFP journalist there said.
The two sides share a common enemy in the Islamic State jihadist group but there have been tensions between them in Hasakeh.
Washington regards the Kurds as the most effective fighting force on the ground in Syria and has provided weapons and special forces military advisers.
(APD)
