Omran Daqneesh (R) poses for a photo with his father in front of their partially destroyed home in the Karm al-Qaterji district in eastern Aleppo in northern Syria, July 29, 2017. Omran Daqneesh, whose heartbreaking images in an armed incident once drew the world's attention, is now living a normal life together with his family in an area currently under the control of the Syria army. (Xinhua/Ammar Safarjalani)
ALEPPO, July 30 (Xinhua) -- A Syrian boy whose heartbreaking images in an armed incident once drew the world's attention is now living a normal life together with his family in an area currently under the control of the Syria army.
According to his father, Mohamad Kheir Daqneesh, the family now lives in Suleiman al-Halabi district in western Aleppo.
Last year, photos and a video of the Syrian boy Omran Daqneesh went viral. He was sitting in an orange ambulance with a bloody and dusty face in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo.
The five-year-old boy grabbed headlines around the world because of the images and the video captured last August, which reflected Syrian people's suffering during the country's civil war.
In the video, the boy was rescued from rubble by a paramedic and then placed in an ambulance.
His three siblings and parents were saved later, but unfortunately his older brother Ali died of his wounds in that incident.
Rebel and opposition groups then accused Syrian or Russian warplanes of carrying out an airstrike in the Karm al-Qaterji district in eastern Aleppo, near the place where Omran had lived.
Other reports suggested that the incident was an explosion.
Omran's father told Xinhua that he heard no explosion or airplane at that time.
"We were sitting at home and we didn't hear any sound. We only felt the light going off and then we realized we were covered with dust and dirt. After that I saved the kids and by that time ambulances had arrived," Daqneesh said.
He said his neighbors helped him get the kids out of the house. Then paramedics placed his boy in an ambulance and claimed his injury was severe.
"They photographed him before treating him medically and common sense says they should treat him before filming," he said, suggesting their claims were untrue.
The father said his son suffered a minor injury in the forehead, noting the boy was just covered in blood but was not bleeding himself.
He accused the rebels of using his son's photos and video to arouse sympathy in the West.
Daqneesh said the rebel and opposition groups blamed the government forces for the incident and claimed it was an airstrike, but he did not hear any airstrike or explosion.
The father also said he was once asked by the rebels to make a testimony and to claim Syrian government forces launched an airstrike in which his children were seriously hurt.
"If they were claiming he had suffered critical wounds, why didn't they treat him before filming him? They wanted me to testify to something I hadn't seen (or say) that the Russian warplanes hit the area but I didn't see that," he said.
The father also said the opposition group attempted to lure him with money to accuse the Syrian government, but they failed.
"I refused to give them any statement because they wanted me to fake," he said, adding that he also rejected several offers to help them leave the country.
Nowadays, there are bunk beds for Omran and his brother Abdullah in their bedroom, with some plastic toys and a green hockey ball on the floor.
Omran has a fresh look now with a sunny smile like that of his peers. Fortunately he has not been impacted psychologically by the incident.
His father showed Xinhua reporters their former house in Qaterji district.
The house was on the first floor of a half-destroyed building. Most parts of it remained except the kitchen.
Standing against his father, Omran looked at the building in the sunset. When asked if he wanted to relive the time in the old house, he said: "No!"
