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Two bombs exploded near a hotel in Damascus where Emmanuel Macron was holding meetings on Tuesday, Syrian state media said, but the French president’s office said it did not hear the blast while he was visiting President Ahmed al-Sharaa.
The explosion underscores the major security challenges in Syria, where Macron is the head of the European Union’s largest country to visit since rebels led by Sharaa overthrew Bashar al-Assad in 2024.
The blast hit the busy area between Syria’s Ministry of Tourism and the national museum across the street from the Four Seasons, where Macron was meeting with civil society groups.
Syrian state media reported that 18 people were injured in the blast, including four police officers.
The first explosion hit shortly after Macron’s motorcade drove to the presidential palace. Reuters footage showed flames and smoke billowing from a rubbish bin as a second explosion was caught on camera a few meters away.
The second explosion went off near an ambulance parked at the scene, where about twenty people were gathered.
Flames and thick black smoke could be seen near the shops in the background, while the emergency services tried to put out the fire.
Reuters video showed Macron’s cars driving along the main road leading to the presidential palace before the explosion. The footage then shows him standing next to Sharaa and meeting with other Syrian officials and military officials.
Roads were closed and security measures were put in place after the explosion, a security source told Reuters.
The French President’s Office said that the explosion was not heard from the president’s cars and that the Reuters reporter and the Macron-affiliated media group did not hear the explosion or see the commotion during the French president’s morning events.
The President’s Office said he intends to stick to his plans for the day.
The deadly bombings last week
Macron’s visit was intended to highlight the political transition in Syria under Sharaa, who has forged close ties with Western and Middle Eastern powers that shunned Assad, as he seeks to rebuild a country devastated by 13 years of war.
During the Syrian conflict, a number of terrorist groups including the Islamic State gained power in the country.
Last week, a bomb in a restaurant in Damascus killed nine people and injured 20 others. There was no claim of responsibility. The Islamic State has claimed a series of attacks on government forces in Syria since February, when the jihadist group announced what it described as a new phase of operations against the Sharaa government.
Sharaa, who is a member of Syria’s Sunni Muslim majority, has pledged to build a new, inclusive system in Syria since ending more than five decades of the Assad family’s iron-fisted rule. But his promise has been tested by outbreaks of violence involving pro-government forces and members of religious and ethnic minorities, killing hundreds last year.
