Buzz
The Syrian Civil War marked its seventh year on March 15 this year. Assad remains in power, the Free Syrian Army (FSA) is still struggling to overthrow him, and various nations and factions have become involved in the conflict. Each has their own objectives, causing the war to fragment into numerous smaller battles.
To date, the Kurdish rebels have emerged as significant winners, seeking greater autonomy from the Syrian government and, if fortunate, hoping to establish their own nation from Syrian territory. Additionally, the Syrian military, backed by Russia, Iraq, Iran, and Hezbollah, has maintained its ground.
Amidst the turmoil of the war, innocent children have become tragic symbols of the conflict. These children, whose images are used to raise awareness about the Syrian war, became ‘poster children’ after their deaths, often unaware of their posthumous fame.
Warning: The following images and videos may be upsetting.
10. Sahar Dofdaa
In 2017, one-month-old Sahar Dofdaa became an iconic image of the Syrian Civil War when her photos were shared by Agence France-Presse (AFP). She was gravely malnourished, weighing under 2 kilograms (4.4 lb). Her frail body, almost devoid of muscle, showed bones protruding, and her eyes had sunken into her face.
At her young age, Sahar was still being breastfed, but her mother was too malnourished to produce any milk. Sahar was transported to a hospital in Hamouria, Ghouta, Syria, where, despite efforts to save her, she tragically passed away.
At the time of the incident, the city of Ghouta was under the control of Syrian rebels and was being heavily sieged and assaulted by the Syrian military. The siege caused food prices to rise sharply, while scarcity was exacerbated by food hoarding and internal conflicts among the rebel factions in the area.
9. Omran Daqneesh
Five-year-old Omran Daqneesh became an emblem of the Syrian war when a haunting image of him sitting in the back of an ambulance emerged online in 2016. His left cheek was bloodied, his body covered in dust. He had just been rescued from a building allegedly struck by an airstrike. We will revisit the use of 'allegedly' shortly.
The photo was taken from a video filmed by Aleppo Media Centre, which supports the rebels opposing Assad’s regime. Omran was not the sole victim of the airstrike; his parents and siblings were also rescued from the apartment, which collapsed shortly after they were evacuated.
A year later, new photos of Omran appeared on the Internet. This time, he had a shorter haircut, and there were no visible traces of his previous injuries. His family had relocated from the rebel-held district that had been bombed to a government-controlled area.
Omran’s father, Mohammed, accused the rebels of using his son’s image and video for propaganda purposes. He claimed that he did not hear the sound of an aircraft overhead when his house was bombed. This suggests that the bombing might have been a deliberate action by the rebels, potentially aimed at creating a complex propaganda narrative, which was followed by the staged rescue.
8. Karim Abdallah
At just 40 days old, Karim Abdallah lost his left eye in an airstrike that targeted a market in Ghouta, Syria, in 2017. The bombing caused a scar to form in his left eye, injured his head above the scar, and tragically claimed the life of his mother, who had been holding him at the time.
The airstrike had been aimed at a rebel stronghold in the area, and Karim and his mother became unintended casualties. As images of the injured Karim spread globally, social media users expressed solidarity by posting photos of themselves covering one eye in tribute to him.
According to Dr. Abu Jamil, a brain surgeon who treated the severely injured boy, the damage could have lasting consequences, particularly as Karim’s frontal lobe was also affected. The frontal lobe plays a vital role in intelligence, understanding, and memory. As of the last update, Karim was under the care of his aunt.
7. Rawan Alowsh
In 2016, five-year-old Rawan Alowsh became another symbol of the Syrian Civil War after a video surfaced showing her being pulled from the rubble of her collapsed home in the Bab al-Nairab district of Aleppo. At that time, the area was controlled by rebel forces and had been heavily bombarded by the Syrian military. The airstrike was believed to have been carried out by either a Russian or Syrian jet.
The video begins with a man digging through the rubble to rescue Rawan, who is seen covered in dust. While some reports claimed that Rawan’s entire family died in the bombing, Time magazine, which covered the event, noted they were unable to verify this claim.
6. Alan Kurdi
Three-year-old Alan Kurdi was among the countless Syrians who drowned in the Mediterranean Sea while attempting to escape the war in Syria and reach Europe. On the morning of September 2, 2015, he and his family boarded a dinghy in Bodrum, Turkey, embarking on a perilous journey to Greece.
Tragically, they never reached Greece, as the dinghy capsized just minutes after leaving the shore. Alan drowned in the disaster along with his father, mother, and older brother.
Had it not been for Turkish photographer Nilufer Demir capturing an image of Alan’s lifeless body on the beach, he might have remained one of the thousands of forgotten victims. Alan’s body was found face down, half submerged in water, and half resting on the sand.
The image went viral, making Alan a symbol not only of the war but also of the countless children who lost their lives while crossing the Mediterranean. Alan was not the only child to die in that tragic event. According to Demir, Alan was just one of many children found on the beach that day. She described the scene as resembling a 'children’s graveyard.'
5. Hamza Ali Al-Khateeb
At just 13 years old, Hamza Ali Al-Khateeb became an emblem of the Syrian uprising, which eventually evolved into the ongoing war. In 2011, Hamza was taking part in protests against Assad’s government. He had been following his family and other protesters as they tried to break the siege of Deraa, a city surrounded by Syrian forces, when they were fired upon by the military.
The protesters scattered and fled, but Hamza was shot and captured. His family did not learn of his whereabouts until weeks later when they discovered he was being held in prison. They visited the facility, pleading with the guards to release Hamza due to his age, but their request was denied.
Hamza’s father returned to the prison later and was told that his son was in a hospital. However, he was not informed that Hamza was in the hospital's morgue. The exact cause of Hamza’s death remains a point of contention to this day. The Syrian government claims he died from the gunshot wounds he suffered during his arrest, while the opposition argues that he was tortured and electrocuted to death.
The controversy surrounding Hamza’s death was fueled by a video showing his severely beaten and bruised body, which the opposition claims serves as irrefutable proof of the torture inflicted on him by the Syrian military. His eyes were swollen and darkened, his genitals were mutilated, and both his hands and neck were broken. The Syrian government countered by suggesting that the disfigurement was due to the decomposition of his body.
4. Baby Amel
Baby Amel became a victim of the Syrian Civil War before she was even born. In 2015, her mother, Amira, was nine months pregnant when she and three of her children were injured during an airstrike in Aleppo. While Amira's children only suffered minor injuries, she was hit by shrapnel. She was quickly transported to a hospital where emergency surgery was performed to deliver her baby.
The baby was born alive, but with shrapnel lodged above her left eye. It was clear that the shrapnel had penetrated Amira’s abdomen and embedded itself above the baby’s eye. The situation left doctors puzzled, wondering whether it was Amira who saved her baby or vice versa. The newborn was named Amel.
3. Bana Al-Abed
Bana al-Abed is perhaps the most well-known of all the poster children of the Syrian war. Her fame reached such heights that in 2017, at the age of eight, she was listed by Time magazine as one of the most influential people on the Internet, alongside figures like Donald Trump and Kim Kardashian. Caitlin Gibson of The Washington Post even referred to her as the “Anne Frank of the Syrian Civil War.”
2. Unnamed Baby
In 2016, while Mayissa was in labor on her way to a hospital in Aleppo, a bomb dropped by one of the warring factions struck nearby. Shrapnel from the explosion hit her belly, along with her arm and leg. Fearing for the life of her unborn child, the doctors rushed her into surgery for a caesarean section.
The doctors' concerns seemed to be justified when the baby was born without a heartbeat. However, after clearing the baby's airways and administering an injection into the umbilical cord, the doctor held the baby upside down, giving him a few slaps and rubbing his back. That’s when the baby finally cried. The birth was later featured on Channel 4 News in the UK, in a segment titled “Children of Aleppo: The baby born in a barrel bomb attack.”
1. Aya
Six-year-old Aya lost her life in an airstrike carried out by the Syrian Arab Air Force on Arbin, Syria, in 2018. The attack also claimed the lives of an adult and another child, bringing the total number of casualties to three. Aya became a symbol of the war after a poignant photograph of her father holding her in his arms, kissing her one last time before her burial, surfaced. During the funeral, her mother could be heard screaming, insisting her daughter was merely asleep, begging to take Aya’s body away from the ceremony.
As tragic as Aya’s story is, she was not the only child whose death became a symbol due to a photograph taken just before burial.
Another unnamed boy met a similar fate. He was killed in an airstrike in Eastern Ghouta in 2018, and a heartbreaking image series shows his father carrying his lifeless body just before he was laid to rest. In these images, the grieving father is seen lifting his son from the back of a flatbed truck, where the remains of other airstrike victims were also laid. He held his son for a few moments before gently returning him to his resting place.
