Photo of dazed child survivor in Aleppo sums up Syria horror

A photo circulated on social media showing a Syrian boy rescued from rubble after a regime air strike in Aleppo highligted the unprecedented effect of the war on children.

The image which was first shared by the Telegraph's Middle East correspond Raf Sanchez on Twitter has been retweeted thousands of times on the website.

Sanchez said the image has become a symbol for activists in Syria.

The child, who is confirmed to be five-year-old Omran Daqneesh, is seen in the video image covered with dust while sitting on an ambulance chair with a dazed and confused look after he realises the blood on his hands.

Aleppo Media Centre, the anti-regime activist group in Syria which uploded the video on Youtube on Wednesday, says Omran is only one of the four children injured in the regime air strikes in opposition held-areas of Aleppo, where Sanchez said children like Omran's could be seen "every day, every hour."

According to Sanchez, who also shared images of other children in Aleppo hospitals, three adults were also also wounded in the attack.

The graphic video also shows the moment the boy was rescued, shortly after the air strike hit the Qaterji neighbourhood.

Omran was later taken into the M10 hospital, which has been repeatedly hit by regime air strikes. He was treated by the few remaining doctors in Aleppo, along with the other children injured in the attack.

The video came only few days after doctors in Aleppo sent a letter to the US President Barack Obama to plead for help. The letter said only 15 physicians were left in the eastern areas of the city, where an estimated 300,000 civilians are trapped and in need of humanitarian assistance.

Aleppo has been a battleground since 2011, after the war began with a crackdown on pro-democracy protesters.

Syrian opposition groups last week managed to break the regime siege on the eastern part of city.

But air strikes by the Syrian regime and its ally Russia increased after the opposition's success in opening a corridor, despite Russia's announcement of a temporary truce and promise to allow a humanitarian corridors into the area.

According to the Syrian Center for Policy Research, the six-year conflict has caused more than 470,000 deaths in the country.