Damascus: Two explosions occurred near the Ministry of Tourism in Syria’s capital, Damascus Tuesday afternoon, injuring 18 people, including four police officers, local media reported citing the latest information released by the country’s Interior Ministry.
The explosions occurred just before the meeting between French President Emmanuel Macron and Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa at the presidential palace.
Macron, who arrived in the Syrian capital Monday, is the first top European leader to visit the war-torn country since the fall of the regime headed by Bashar al-Assad.
The Interior Ministry told the leading Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) that the Internal Security Forces had detected two explosive devices during their field operations, and the competent units had begun taking the necessary measures to dismantle them, but they exploded while preparing for the dismantling operation.
“The Interior Ministry explained that the initial inspection showed that the two devices were made in a primitive way. The first was placed inside a car parked on the side of the road, while the second was placed inside a garbage container. It noted that investigations are continuing to uncover the circumstances of the attack and identify those involved,” SANA reported.
Several media outlets reported that the explosions took place close to the hotel Macron is reportedly staying in.
“The French President’s office said in a statement that the President was safe and that his trip was continuing,” reported French daily Le Monde.
July 3, a bombing in a cafe near the Justice Palace in central Damascus killed nine people and injured 20 others. The interior authorities described the incident as a terrorist attack involving an improvised explosive device weighing about one kilogram and packed with metal fragments. Forensic teams were reviewing surveillance footage and interviewing witnesses, the authorities said.
Syrian authorities July 4 said they had foiled another attempt to bomb a passenger bus in a Damascus suburb, Xinhua news agency reported.
The attempted bombing came after three security personnel were wounded in an attack Friday at a checkpoint in the Damascus suburb of Jaramana.