Omran Daqneesh (Arabic: عُمْرَان دَقْنِيش, romanized: ʿUmrān Daqnīš, born 2011) is a Syrian boy who, at age five, gained media attention after footage of him injured appeared on the Internet following a reported air strike.[1][2]
History
Daqneesh was injured on August 17, 2016, in an alleged Russian Air Force strike on the rebel-held al-Qaterji neighbourhood of Aleppo, Syria. Video footage from the Aleppo Media Centre showed an unarmed man, who appeared to be a rescue worker, carrying Omran from a damaged building to an ambulance.[3] He was taken to a hospital known as M10,[1] which was supported by the Syrian American Medical Society.[2] A surgeon who treated Omran said there was "blood on his face from a wound on his forehead".[4] A doctor said Omran was suffering from shock and required stitches for his head wound.[3] Doctors found no apparent signs of brain injury,[2] and he was discharged hours after being rescued.[4]
In August 2016, Omran's relatives said they were afraid of government reprisals and declined to speak.[2] After his family crossed into government-controlled territory, Omran's father was interviewed by Iran's Al-Alam News Network in 2017.[3] His father said Omran only suffered minor injuries and was taken to the hospital needlessly after "gunmen" took him to an ambulance.[3] His father said the blood on Omran's face came from his own wounds, which dripped onto Omran.[3]
Daqneesh was rescued with his parents and three siblings, then aged one, six, and ten. His ten-year-old brother, Ali, died on August 20, 2016, of his injuries.[5] The apartment building collapsed shortly after the family was rescued. Eight people died in the air strike, including five children. The footage was released by the Aleppo Media Centre, a Syrian opposition activist group. Photojournalist Mahmoud Raslan, who photographed Daqneesh, and journalist Mustafa al-Sarout, who filmed him, both spoke to Western media about the iconic photo.[6][4] Russia Today interviewed Sara Flounders of the International Action Center who said that Raslan's social media suggested previous support for rebel group Nour al-Din al-Zenki Movement.[7]
The image of him sitting bloodied in an ambulance after being dragged from the rubble of his home[2][4] caused international outrage and was widely featured in newspapers and social media. It has been compared with photographs of Alan Kurdi, a child refugee of the Syrian Civil War who drowned trying to reach Europe.[2] On Swiss television, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said the image of Omran was "a forged picture, not a real one".[8]
In June 2017, new photos and videos of the boy emerged from Syrian government media.[9][10] In an interview with Kinana Alloush, a presenter for Syrian state TV, Omran's father said that his son had been used as a 'propaganda tool' by rebel forces, and that the family had always been pro-government.[10] His father also criticized rebel groups in Aleppo for attempting to exploit his family as propaganda to push for regime-change.[11][8]
See also
References
Further reading
- "Photo Editors' Notebook: What Makes the Image of Omran Daqneesh Extraordinary?". The New York Times. 2016-08-22. Retrieved 2020-08-19.