The biggest casualties in wars are usually civilians, and the conflict plaguing Syria is no exception with millions displaced and fleeing their war-torn home as refugees in other nations.
This week, shocking footage emerging from a town in northern Syria captured the moments when a child was rescued from the rubble after an air strike tore down buildings on Tuesday (Feb 2).
One of the victims was a helpless boy who was trapped underneath a heap of concrete rubble at the site of a fallen building in Haritan near the Syrian city of Aleppo.
Piling rods in a huge concrete block pressed against the boy's head, pinning him down as he lay sprawled on the ground crying in pain.
Rescuers can be heard shouting frantically in the heartbreaking 52-second video.
After dislodging the rubble, rescuers managed to free the boy whose face was covered in concrete sediment, and carried him away for medical attention.
According to FB Newswire, the airstrikes come amid a broad offensive by the Syrian Army in Aleppo, backed by Russian air support and allied militias.
A local activist at Haritan said that the airstrikes on Tuesday also hit a school.
Four million Syrian children have been put out of school by the war so far, the United Nations said recently.
On the same day of the Haritan airstrikes, the bodies of nine migrants including two babies were recovered by the Turkish coastguard. The boat they were fleeing in sank a short distance from land while trying to reach Europe.
In September 2015, the image of a 3-year-old boy whose body washed up on the shores of Turkey caused an international outcry over the refugee situation.
The boy, identified as Aylan Kurdi, was pictured face down on the sandy beach. The toddler and his family were also trying to leave Turkey when their boat sank.
grongloh@sph.com.sg
