Kuwait hospital treats injured Ali

A Kuwait City hospital has received a 12-year-old boy who lost both his arms in a bomb attack and became a symbol of Iraqi war suffering.

The boy, Ali Ismaeel Abbas, was carried off an ambulance on a stretcher after being airlifted from Baghdad.

Wearing a green shower cap, he blinked at flashing cameras before being taken into Kuwait City's Saud A Albabtain Centre for Burns and Plastic Surgery.

Ali suffered burns over 60% of his body and lost his arms when a missile struck his home in Baghdad, killing his father, brother and pregnant mother.

It was unclear who fired the missile, but Baghdad was under heavy coalition bombardment when the boy's family was hit.

Doctors planned to give the boy a quick evaluation before taking him into surgery.

He probably faces a considerable amount of skin grafting.

"The first thing we have to see is the injury from the burn.

"The most important thing is to remove dead tissue and any trace of infection," said Dr Imad Najada, the plastic surgeon attending to Ali.

Comments (0)

Share what you think

No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards.

We are no longer accepting comments on this article.

Who is this week's top commenter? Find out now