Two Bombs Wound 18 in Damascus During Macron's Visit, Including Syria's Deputy Tourism Minister

Two explosive devices detonated in central Damascus on Tuesday morning, according to Syria's Interior Ministry as reported by the state news agency SANA. One device was concealed inside a parked vehicle; the other was hidden in a trash bin. Both went off as security personnel began attempting to defuse them, SANA reported.

Eighteen people were wounded. Four were police officers. Syria's deputy tourism minister, Faraj al-Qashquosh, was also among the injured, according to the New York Post. No deaths were immediately reported.

BBC Verify placed the blasts approximately 125 meters from the Four Seasons hotel, where Syrian media report Macron was staying. The area sits on a major thoroughfare in central Damascus, near the headquarters of the Tourism Ministry and the Damascus National Museum. Windows at the Tourism Ministry, which faces the hotel, were shattered by the force of the blasts, the New York Post reported. Footage circulating on social media showed a van and motorcycle ablaze and blood stains on the street, according to NPR and the New York Post.

Macron was inside the presidential palace meeting al-Sharaa when the explosions occurred. An Élysée Palace official, speaking anonymously to discuss the president's security and whereabouts, confirmed to NPR that Macron did not hear the blasts and that his meeting with al-Sharaa continued without interruption. The palace also confirmed the explosions had not affected his schedule.

Macron posted on social media after the incident: "Nothing can smother the aspiration of Syrian women and men to live in a fully sovereign, safe, pluralistic, and united Syria," according to BBC reporting. "This morning I met Syria in all its diversity. I saw dignity, courage, and determination. My visit continues."

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, according to NPR. Syria's Interior Ministry said an investigation was underway to identify those responsible.

The Context al-Sharaa Cannot Escape

The blasts pose a direct challenge for Ahmad al-Sharaa, who has spent months trying to convince Western governments that post-Assad Syria is stable enough to invest in and engage with diplomatically. He came to power after leading Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the insurgency that ousted Bashar Assad in December 2024, a group formerly linked to al-Qaeda. He has since worked to rebrand himself as a reformer, pursued political and economic reform pledges, and courted Western backing.

Macron played a central role in pushing Europe and the United States to lift most sanctions on Syria, according to NPR. He arrived Monday night with an economic delegation and was scheduled to sign memorandums of understanding with al-Sharaa focused on reconstruction investment for a country battered by 14 years of war.

The BBC noted that at the start of July, a bomb blast at a crowded café in central Damascus killed at least nine people and injured 22 others, according to Syrian state media. NPR reported that an explosive device detonated in a café near the Justice Palace in Damascus, killing at least 10 people and wounding more than 20. That attack came just days before Macron's arrival. The Islamic State has claimed a series of attacks on government targets in Syria in recent months, per BBC reporting. Pro-government forces were also implicated in violence against religious and ethnic minority groups that killed hundreds of people last year.

The Case for Cautious Engagement

Critics of Macron's visit and of the broader Western rush to reengage with Damascus argue that al-Sharaa's government has not fully consolidated control, violence against minorities occurred on its watch, and the speed of sanctions relief may be outrunning actual evidence of stable, pluralistic governance. Rewarding a government that cannot secure its own capital during a high-profile diplomatic visit sends a weak signal about what Western partners actually require before extending legitimacy and reconstruction dollars, this argument goes.

That concern is legitimate. The twin bombings, coming days after the café attack, suggest Damascus is not yet a secure environment. Syria's interior ministry confirming it is still investigating both incidents means accountability remains an open question.

But the counterargument also has merit. Syria's isolation under Assad produced a humanitarian catastrophe and a power vacuum that ISIS exploited. Macron's economic delegation and the memorandums of understanding represent a bet that engagement, investment, and diplomatic pressure are more likely to stabilize Syria than continued isolation. Whether al-Sharaa's government can actually deliver security and pluralism is a question the evidence has not yet answered either way.

What Comes Next

After Syria, Macron was scheduled to head to Ankara, Turkey, for the NATO summit, according to BBC reporting. A central question remains who planted the devices. No group has claimed the attack, and Syria's Interior Ministry investigation is ongoing. If ISIS is responsible, as the pattern of recent attacks might suggest, it would reinforce that the group remains operationally active in the Syrian capital, complicating every reconstruction and investment pitch al-Sharaa is making to Western partners this week.