Bombs wound 18 in Damascus during Macron's visit
Two homemade bombs went off in central Damascus on Tuesday, near the Tourism Ministry and the Four Seasons hotel where President Macron was staying, while he met Syria's new leader nearby. Syria's Interior Ministry said 18 people were wounded, four of them police, and that the devices detonated as its own units were trying to defuse them.
- The two improvised devices, one hidden in a parked car and the other in a trash container, were found by Syrian security forces near Macron's residence and exploded while specialists were preparing to dismantle them.
- Eighteen people were wounded, four of them police officers, with no deaths reported. The Interior Ministry said the site sat outside Macron's security perimeter and posed no threat to his residence or to the visit, which continued on schedule.
- No group claimed responsibility and an investigation is underway. The blasts came days after a cafe bombing near the Justice Palace in Damascus killed about ten people.
Why it mattersMacron is the first European leader to enter Syria since rebels toppled Assad in 2024, and the new government wanted the trip to advertise a country that is stable and open for business. Two bombs inside its own capital, days after a deadly cafe attack, advertise the opposite: the men who seized the palace do not yet hold the streets.
SANA (Syrian state news agency)… ↗ · Jul 7, 2026 · ✓ Checked