Furious father of Syrian boy Omran Daqneesh says picture should never have been taken

5-year-old wounded Syrian kid Omran Daqneesh sits alone in the back of the ambulance after he got injured during an air strike in Aleppo on August 17, 2016. Photo / Getty Images

Few images from the Syrian war are as haunting as the one of Omran Daqneesh.

The world was heartbroken over the photograph of the shell-shocked little boy sitting silently in the back of an ambulance in war-ravaged Aleppo, covered in blood and dust after his family's home was destroyed by a strike.

One year on, his furious father has spoken to CNN about the family's ordeal, news.com.au reports.

Mohammed Kheir Daqneesh told the network he managed to pull Omran from the rubble but he couldn't save his other son, Ali.

Daqneesh accused activists from the Aleppo Media Centre of filming and photographing the 3-year-old "before they even treated him".

He said he never wanted Omran to become a media icon, and he shaved his son's head and changed his name after the iconic photograph was released.

Most of all, he's furious his son has been used as a political pawn.

Daqneesh's comments come as the United Nation warned the country's opposition to face the reality it has lost to dictator Bashar al-Assad.

The country is being torn apart US-backed rebels, the Russian-backed government, and militants fighting under the Islamic State flag.

Smoke and rubbles rise after Syrian oppositions blow up a tunnel under Syrian Regime forces' headquarters in Aleppo's Ramuse region, Syria. Photo / Getty Images

Staffan de Mistura, an Italian-Swedish diplomat serving as special envoy to Syria, today said the US-backed rebels cannot win the brutal six-and-a-half year war.

"For the opposition, the message is very clear: if they were planning to win the war, facts are proving that is not the case. So now it's time to win the peace," he told reporters at a news conference in Geneva.

"History will judge, of course, and I am not the one to write the history on this because the conflict is still ongoing. At the moment, I don't think anyone can actually claim to have won the war."

Overnight, United Nations investigators confirmed the April attack on the town of Khan Sheikoun involved sarin gas.

At least 83 people were killed when government forces dropped the colourless and odourless nerve agent that causes incredibly painful muscle contractions, leading to death by asphyxiation.

Experts estimate Bashar al-Assad now controls approximately 40 per cent of Syria from the capital, Damascus, but peace is a long way away.

Last week, rebels from the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces began taking control of the old city of Raqqa, forcing Isis forces to flee into the desert.

This week, the military broke the Isis stronghold on the eastern city of Deir ez-Zur, where 90,000 people have lived under siege for three years.

Next week, officials will attend ceasefire talks in Kazakhstan, which could help resolve the fate of Idlib, a city of two million were rebels are gaining influence.

"Victory can only be if there is a sustainable political long-term solution," de Mistura told reporters at the UN headquarters.

"Otherwise, instead of war, God forbid, we may see plenty of low-intensity guerilla [conflicts] going on for the next 10 years, and you will see no reconstruction, which is a very sad outcome of winning a war."