Ankara: Two Syrian children who have become powerful symbols of their homeland’s conflict met Saturday, vowing that “the war will not stop us” despite the horrific violence around them.
Seven-year-old Syrian girl Bana al-Abed — whose Twitter account gave a tragic description of the bombing of Aleppo — met 10-year-old Abdel Basset who lost his legs after bombardment in Idlib.
Abdel was caught in a barrel bomb attack by regime forces in the town of Al-Hbeit, in northwest Idlib province on Thursday.
A video of the young boy screaming for his father spread on social media and images of Abdel were shared by Bana as well.
Turkish NGO the Humanitarian Relief Foundation (IHH) said Bana visited Saturday Abdel in hospital in Hatay, southern Turkey where he is being treated.
In a live Periscope video on Twitter, Bana gave Abdel presents before she urged people to “help the children of Syria”.
She added: “We will go to school, we will play. The war will not stop us. We are strong.”
Sharing the clip, Bana said she was “very happy” to meet Abdel in a tweet.
The IHH said Abdel’s mother and three-year-old sister were killed during the bombardment while his other two sisters are suffering from unnamed health problems.
The family came to Turkey from Syria with the help of the IHH.
“Look, Abdulbaset Ta’an, little Syrian boy lost both legs because of the bombing,” she said Friday.
Bana became known worldwide with her tweets from flashpoint city Aleppo giving an insight into the raging conflict.
In December the city’s rebel areas fell back into government control while Bana was evacuated with her mother to Turkey.
AFP