Partially blinded Syrian baby becomes symbol of siege of Eastern Ghouta

The heartrending photograph of a Syrian baby who lost an eye in a regime air strike has set off a viral social media campaign, with users sharing pictures of themselves covering one eye.

The shot depicts 40-day-old Karim Abdallah, wrapped in a puffy red jacket, with crescent-shaped scarring where his left eye should be and a dark red welt on his forehead.

An October 29 air strike on a rebel bastion near Damascus severely wounded Karim and killed his mother, according to relatives and the doctor who treated him - and kicked off a worldwide support campaign.

Users are taking pictures of themselves covering one of their eyes and sharing them on Twitter and Facebook with the hashtag #SolidarityWithKarim.

The campaign even reached the United Nations, where British ambassador Matthew Rycroft tweeted a photograph of himself at the Security Council, his right hand over his eye.

"We must see an end to the bombardment & siege of Eastern Ghouta."

Thousands of people - both ordinary and famous - wanting to show support for Karim have joined campaigns on social media, including  Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri and French football player Franck Ribery.

TRT World's Ahmed Al Burai spoke with the boy's father Abu Mohammad to find out what the campaign means to him.

Regime forces have besieged the rebel-held Eastern Ghouta region since 2013, restricting access to food and medicines for some 400,000 residents.

Eastern Ghouta is one of four "de-escalation" zones agreed in May in a bid to reduce fighting in some parts of the war-ravaged country, but the regime has ramped up bombing since mid-November.