Blasts Rock Damascus During Macron Syria Visit
DAMASCUS, July 7 (Reuters) – Two bombs exploded near a hotel in Damascus where French President Emmanuel Macron was spending the night, but his office said Macron did not hear the explosions and met with Syrian President Ahmed al-Shara shortly after on Tuesday.
Syrian officials said 18 people were injured in the explosions; This overshadowed the first visit to Syria by a European Union head of state since Sharaa overthrew Bashar al-Assad in 2024 and underlined ongoing security threats in the country.
The explosions hit a busy area between the Syrian Ministry of Tourism and the national museum, opposite the Four Seasons hotel. Here, a source in Macron’s delegation and Syrian security sources said Macron spent the night and met with civil society groups on Tuesday morning.
Macron said in his post on X that his visit to Syria continues.
“Nothing can undermine the Syrians’ desire to live in a fully sovereign and secure Syria,” he said. “This morning I met Syria in all its diversity and saw dignity, courage and determination.”
Flames and Smoke Rising from the Trash Can
The first explosion occurred shortly after Macron’s motorcade set off towards the presidential palace. Reuters footage showed flames and smoke billowing from the area as a second explosion was caught on camera a few feet (meters) away.
The second explosion took place next to an ambulance parked at the scene where about two dozen people had gathered. Emergency personnel worked to extinguish the fire as smoke and flames remained near the rear shops.
Reuters video showed Macron’s motorcade driving along the highway towards the presidential palace before the explosions. A video later published by Syrian state media showed him standing next to Sharaa and meeting with other Syrian officials and military officials.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.
Sharaa, a former al-Qaeda commander, has been working to stabilize and rebuild Syria since leading rebel forces that ousted Assad after more than 13 years of civil war, and has been building close ties with Western and Middle Eastern states opposed to Assad.
The Islamic State, an enemy of Shara during the civil war, has claimed responsibility for a series of attacks on government forces in Syria since February in what the jihadist group described as a new phase of operations against its government.
Damascus Cafe Was Bombed Last Week
The Syrian Ministry of Internal Affairs stated that security forces detected two bombs placed near the Ministry of Tourism and were preparing to neutralize them when the bombs exploded, adding that the devices in question were crudely made.
The bombs, one placed in a car parked on the roadside and the other in a garbage bin, were placed outside the security cordon around Macron’s place of residence and did not pose any threat to his visit, the ministry said.
It was stated that internal security forces started search operations to identify those responsible.
The French Presidency said the explosions were not heard from the presidential motorcade, and a Reuters reporter with the press group accompanying Macron did not hear the explosion or see any commotion during the French president’s morning events.
Last week, nine people were killed and 20 people were injured in a bomb attack on a cafe in Damascus. There was no claim of liability.
Macron’s visit aimed to highlight Syria’s political transformation under Shara.
During the Syrian conflict, a number of militant groups, including the Islamic State, have gained a foothold in the country.
Sharaa, a member of Syria’s Sunni Muslim majority, has vowed to establish an inclusive new order in Syria since the Assad family ended more than five decades of iron-fisted rule. But his promise has been tested by violence between pro-government forces and members of religious and ethnic minority groups, with hundreds of people killed last year.
(Reporting by Kinda Makieh, Clotaire Achi, Inti Landauro and John Irish; Tala Ramadan, Ahmed Elimam and Nayera Abdallah and Feras Dalatey in Dubai Writing by Angus McDowall and Tom Perry; Editing by Michael Georgy, Andrew Heavens and Sharon Singleton)
