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<\/a><\/p>\nPublished On 7 Jul 20267 Jul 2026<\/p>\n
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Updated: 44 minutes agoUpdated: 44 minutes ago<\/p>\n
At least 18 people have been wounded after two explosive devices went off in the Syrian capital, Damascus, as French President Emmanuel Macron visits the country.<\/p>\n
Syria\u2019s Interior Ministry said four police officers were among those wounded in the blasts, the state news agency SANA reported on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
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Television footage showed plumes of smoke rising over the city, and other footage shared online and verified by Al Jazeera showed a vehicle on fire.<\/p>\n
An Al Jazeera correspondent said that the blasts occurred near the Ministry of Tourism and a hotel where Macron was meant to be staying during a visit to the capital for talks with his Syrian counterpart, Ahmed al-Sharaa.<\/p>\n
Macron\u2019s office said the president, who was on his way to meet al-Sharaa, did not hear \u2060the blasts and the visit continued as normal.<\/p>\n
The Interior Ministry told SANA that the blasts took place \u201coutside the security zone designated for the French President\u2019s residence, and did not pose any direct threat to the residence or the official visit programme, which is proceeding according to the planned schedule\u201d.<\/p>\n
Authorities have sealed off roads and an investigation is under way.<\/p>\n
\u201cPreliminary findings indicate that the two explosive devices were improvised. One was placed inside a vehicle parked along the roadside, while the other was concealed in a trash container,\u201d the Interior Ministry said, as cited by SANA.<\/p>\n
\u201cInvestigations are under way to establish the circumstances of the attack and identify those responsible.\u201d<\/p>\n
Al Jazeera\u2019s Obaida Hitto, reporting from the presidential palace, said the situation there was \u201cpretty calm\u201d.<\/p>\n
He said the blasts occurred despite \u201cunprecedented\u201d security measures being in place for the first visit by a European leader to Damascus since the fall of Bashar al-Assad\u2019s government in late 2024.<\/p>\n
The incident \u201creminds us how sensitive and fragile the security situation is here in the country,\u201d Hitto said.<\/p>\n
A security official told Al Jazeera that the explosions happened in an area busy with civilians, calling it \u201ca criminal act\u201d.<\/p>\n
Ismat al-Absi, a security expert based in Damascus, told Al Jazeera that the targets of the blasts were not immediately clear.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are not sure if the IEDs were targeting the French president\u2019s convoy as he was heading to the People\u2019s Palace to meet Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is clear that the aim is to create unrest and send a negative message. But let\u2019s be clear, there is a security gap, and we need to fix it \u2026 in order to prevent portraying Syria\u2019s security situation in a negative light.\u201d<\/p>\n