Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has claimed the photo of the five-year-old boy which became a haunting symbol of the suffering of civilians in Aleppo, was faked.

Mr Assad alleged the images were "manipulated" and said the viral picture was "forged" by the volunteer rescue group known as the White Helmets.

In an interview with German-language broadcaster SRF, he said: "I want you to go back after my interview and go to the internet to see the same picture of the same child, with his sister."

"They were rescued twice, each one in different incidents, just as part of the publicity of those White Helmets."

The White Helmets, which were nominated for this year's Nobel Peace Prize, are made up of around 3,000 people and operate in rebel-held areas of Syria.

The group estimates to have pulled more than 40,000 people from the rubble of locations hit by regime, and later Russian, air strikes since 2013. The majority of their funding comes from UK and Dutch sources.

In the interview, Mr Assad also accuses the group of being a "facelift" of Islamist rebel-group Jabhat al-Nusra, which recently rebranded itself Jabhat Fateh al-Sham. A statement on the group's website insists they "do not pledge allegiance to any political party or group".

The video which shows the suffering of the children of Aleppo

Video shot by media activists showed five-year-old Omran Daqneesh being lifted from the ruins of a house by a White Helmets volunteer, who placed him on a seat in an ambulance.

In the footage, Omran appears dazed as he sits alone in the chair, staring blankly ahead before wiping blood from his forehead.

The Syrian regime denied responsibility for the air strike, which killed nine people including Omran's 10-year-old brother.

In the interview, Mr Assad claimed: "None of those incidents were true. You can have it manipulated and it is manipulated.

"I'm going to send you those two pictures. Just to see that this is a forged picture, not a real one."

In pictures: Aleppo bombing Show all 14 1 /14 In pictures: Aleppo bombing In pictures: Aleppo bombing Bombing in Aleppo Smoke rises after airstrikes on the rebel-held al-Sakhour neighborhood of Aleppo, Syria April 29, 2016. Reuters In pictures: Aleppo bombing Bombing in Aleppo A Syrian family runs for cover amid the rubble of destroyed buildings following a reported air strike on the rebel-held neighbourhood of Al-Qatarji in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo, on April 29, 2016. AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Aleppo bombing Bombing in Aleppo A man reacts as he stands on blood stains at a site hit by airstrikes in the rebel held area of Aleppo's al-Fardous district, Syria, April 29, 2016. Reuters In pictures: Aleppo bombing Bombing in Aleppo The damage of the airstrikes in the rebel-held area of Aleppo on April 28 Reuters In pictures: Aleppo bombing Bombing in Aleppo The damaged the Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF)-backed al-Quds hospital after it was hit by airstrikes, in a rebel-held area of Syria's Aleppo Reuters In pictures: Aleppo bombing Bombing in Aleppo Syrians evacuate an injured man amid the rubble of destroyed buildings following an air strike on a rebel-held of Aleppo on April 29, 2016. AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Aleppo bombing Bombing in Aleppo People inspect the damage at a site hit by airstrikes, in the rebel-held area of Aleppo's Bustan al-Qasr AP In pictures: Aleppo bombing Bombing in Aleppo A man leads a woman in tears and child out of the scene after airstrikes hit Aleppo AP In pictures: Aleppo bombing Bombing in Aleppo Civil defence members search for survivors after an airstrike at a field hospital in the rebel held area of al-Sukari district of Aleppo Reuters In pictures: Aleppo bombing Bombing in Aleppo A Syrian boy is comforted as he cries next to the body of a relative who died in a reported air strike in the rebel-held neighbourhood of al-Soukour in the northern city of Aleppo Getty Images In pictures: Aleppo bombing Bombing in Aleppo A Syrian family walks amid the rubble of destroyed buildings following a reported air strike in the Bustan al-Qasr rebel-held district of the northern Syrian city of Aleppo Getty Images In pictures: Aleppo bombing Bombing in Aleppo Syrian civil defence volunteers and rescuers remove a baby from under the rubble of a destroyed building following a reported air strike on the rebel-held neighbourhood of al-Kalasa in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo Getty Images In pictures: Aleppo bombing Bombing in Aleppo Syrians help a wounded youth following an air strike on the Fardous rebel held neighbourhood of the northern Syrian city of Aleppo Getty Images In pictures: Aleppo bombing Bombing in Aleppo Syrian civil defence volunteers evacuate people from a damaged building following a reported airstrike in the rebel-held neighbourhood of Tareeq al-Bab in the northern city of Aleppo

He added: "We have real pictures of children being harmed. But this one is a forged one."

Mr Assad's claim the single viral image of Omran is faked comes as air strikes kill dozens of civilians in the besieged city of Aleppo each day.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said more than 640 people, including 128 children, have been killed in rebel-held parts of Aleppo and the surrounding rural areas since a truce brokered by the US and Russia collapsed on 19 September.

It also said 88 people, including 14 children, were killed in retaliatory shelling on government-held Aleppo.

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