Pikachu deployed for Syrian kids

The global craze of Pokemon has reached Syria, with opposition groups using the game to bring attention to the plight of children caught in the conflict.

Syrian opposition groups have taken advantage of a global Pokemon craze to draw the world's attention to the plight of children caught up in the country's five-year civil war.

Photographs of children in besieged Syrian towns holding pictures of Pokemon characters and appealing for help were published by the Syrian National Coalition, an alliance of Western-backed activist and rebel groups.

Their release is an attempt to capitalise on the success of Pokemon GO, which challenges players on smartphones to go to real-world locations to capture the cuddly monsters using the phone's camera.

"If you are looking for a Pokemon you can find it in Syria," the coalition said on Twitter through their communications arm, the Revolutionary Forces of Syria Media Office.

Many Syrians feel the world is ignoring a conflict which has killed more than a quarter of a million people, displaced half the population, and left hundreds of thousands trapped by either government or rebel forces.

One photograph of a child with the Pokemon character Pikachu reads, "I am trapped in Douma in east Ghouta. Help me".

Douma is a suburb of Damascus besieged by government forces.

Bombardments are a daily occurrence there and in the surrounding neighbourhoods, which hold tens of thousands of civilians according to the United Nations.

Rebel fighters have also besieged government-held towns in the north of the country, and have fired rockets and mortars into government-controlled neighbourhoods of Aleppo and the capital Damascus.


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Source: AAP

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