News

Actions

Brother of boy in iconic Syrian photo killed in airstrike

Posted at 3:54 PM, Aug 20, 2016
and last updated 2016-08-20 15:54:07-04

The brother of the Syrian boy whose impassive, bloodied and dust-covered image struck a nerve across the globe died of injuries from the airstrike earlier this week on his family’s house in Aleppo.

Ali Daqneesh, the 10-year-old brother of Omran Daqneesh, died on Saturday, according to Yousef Saddiq, the director of the Aleppo Media Center.

Ali succumbed in an Aleppo field hospital from injuries sustained in the Wednesday airstrike and his mother remains hospitalized in critical condition, Saddiq said.

The photos and video of Omran sitting silently in an ambulance awaiting help are grim reflections of the grinding Syrian civil war.

Activists blame the Syrian regime and Russia for the bombings in Aleppo.

The city, in northern Syria, has been besieged for years during that country’s civil war. Thousands of people have been killed there, including 4,500 children, and thousands of lives have been upended.