News

For 10-year-old Mohammed, war used to be a game - his favourite game. He would lose himself for hours in shootouts on his games console.

But he is a child of Misrata, where the bloodshed is now not make-believe.

And just over a week ago, as he played in his yard, a speeding bullet penetrated his skull. Doctors say a fragment passed right through his brain.

Now he lies in a hospital bed, conscious but gripped by a searing headache. His voice rises and falls with the waves of pain. He cries out for his uncle, for God, and most often, for his mother, Zeinab, who keeps a vigil by his side.

"The bombing had stopped so he went outside to play with his cousins," she said. "He was tying his shoelaces when the bullet hit him. It's a miracle he survived."