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Qatar News Agency reported that two homemade explosive devices detonated in adjacent areas near Victoria Bridge in central Damascus on July 7. Initial reports indicated both deaths and injuries although Syrian authorities had yet to release an official casualty toll from the blasts. The Internal Security Command immediately began combing the area in a search for those responsible, the agency added from its correspondent in the Syrian capital.
A security source told Reuters that one device had been placed in a garbage bin and the other in a parked car close to the Four Seasons Hotel where Macron had stayed overnight. The French president’s office stated that Macron did not hear the explosions and continued with his scheduled meeting at the presidential palace with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa. Reuters witnessed smoke rising from the site as emergency teams responded to the twin blasts in the heart of the city.
The explosions occurred as Macron became the first European Union head of state to visit Syria since rebels led by Sharaa toppled longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad in late 2024, according to an Associated Press dispatch from Damascus. Syrian state television described the devices as having been planted in the vicinity of Umayyad Square and the bridge area. Multiple witnesses reported hearing two loud detonations in quick succession that afternoon.
Syria’s Ministry of Health had reported at least nine people killed and 20 others wounded in a separate cafe explosion in the al-Hijaz district of central Damascus on July 2, Al Jazeera reported at the time. That blast, also attributed to an explosive device near the Palace of Justice, prompted an investigation that remained ongoing with no group claiming responsibility. The latest incident adds to concerns over repeated attacks in the capital amid the transitional government’s efforts to restore order.
French officials confirmed that Macron’s landmark trip proceeded without interruption following the blasts, France 24 reported from the scene. Syrian security forces established a cordon around the affected zone while collecting evidence and reviewing surveillance footage from the area. At least four people sustained wounds including several police officers on duty nearby, according to an update carried by the Associated Press citing state media.
Investigators continued to examine the sites for additional clues as of Tuesday evening, a Syrian security official told Asharq Al-Awsat. The blasts took place while Macron and Sharaa discussed bilateral ties and regional issues at the presidential palace several hundred metres from the explosion sites. No immediate claim of responsibility had surfaced for the attack on the capital’s central district.
