Syria's bloodied boy Omran Daqneesh appears for first time after being pulled from rubble in Aleppo

New pictures of Omran Daqneesh, a Syrian boy who was pulled from rubble in Aleppo after pro-Assad air strikes in August 2016, have emerged online.

Omran, then 5-year-old, became a symbol of civilian suffering in the city of Aleppo after he was filmed being covered head to toe in dust and blood. The image was widely shared on social media at that time.

Omran has now emerged as a healthy and happy young boy in the pictures published online on Monday, 5 June. He was filmed at his new home in the city, which is now under full government control.

In the picture posted online by a pro-Syrian government television presenter Kinana Alloush, Omran can be seen sitting along with his father, Mohammed Daqneesh.

The family has appeared for the first time after last year's incident.

During the interview, Omran's father told host Alloush that he and his family has been used as "propaganda".

He added that the rebels and international media had wanted to use his son to attack President Bashar al-Assad. "They wanted to trade in his blood and published his photos," Mohammed said.

He said that he was sitting with Omran on 17 August 2016 when their home was hit by the air strike, but added that he had not heard a plane overhead.

Mohammed also said that Omran had suffered minor injuries and that the blood on his face was from one of his own wounds.

The father alleged that the forces against President Bashar were responsible for creating a sensation about Omran's image. He said that when he went to search for his three other children in the rubble, "gunmen" took Omran to an ambulance in the street outside and started filming him.

They then took him to hospital despite there being no need, Mohammed added.

The doctor who treated Omran had said that he had a head wound that required stitches and that he was suffering from shock.

Mohammed said that he was even offered the option to leave Syria by parties, who wanted to damage the reputation of the country's armed forces.

"They even offered housing in Turkey and the United States and Britain in exchange to leave Aleppo, but I refused. I am the son of this city," he told Lebanon-based Al Mayadeen News, adding that he hid his son's identity to escape individuals who threatened to kidnap him.

However, it is still not clear whether the family has volunteered to come out publicly or if they are being forced to do so.

Allouche, a pro-regime journalist who posted the pictures and the short clip of the interview, wrote online "The child Omran, those who tried to shed Syrian blood mislead the news that he was hit by the Syrian Arab Army.

"Here he now lives in the Syrian state with its army, its leader and its people."

The reporter had drawn internet attention in 2016 after she posted a smiling selfie of herself standing in front of dead rebels.