Two explosions struck central Damascus on Tuesday near the Four Seasons Hotel
By Bernard,
Two explosions struck central Damascus on Tuesday near the Four Seasons Hotel, where French President Emmanuel Macron had stayed during a landmark visit to Syria, wounding at least 18 people, including four police officers, Syria's Interior Ministry said. Macron had already entered the presidential palace to meet Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa when the blasts occurred, and his office said he was safe, did not hear the explosions, and that the meeting continued as scheduled. The Interior Ministry, cited by Syrian state media, said the two devices, one placed in a garbage bin and the other in a parked car, detonated as security officers were working to dismantle them, and that the blasts fell outside Macron's security perimeter and posed no direct threat to him. No group claimed responsibility. It was the second bombing in the Syrian capital in a week, following a cafe explosion near the Palace of Justice on Thursday that Syrian authorities said killed at least nine people and wounded more than 20.
Macron is the first European head of state to visit Syria since the ouster of Bashar al-Assad in late 2024, and arrived Monday night with a delegation of French business leaders. He and al-Sharaa announced the restoration of diplomatic ties and the reappointment of ambassadors, after France closed its embassy in 2012 during the early years of Syria's civil war and symbolically reopened it in early 2025. The two governments signed a series of agreements, including one to begin returning some €51 million ($58.3 million) in illicit assets that had belonged to Rifaat al-Assad, an uncle of the ousted president, along with deals on rebuilding water and electricity infrastructure in Homs, technical assistance to Syria's central bank, and cargo operations at the Damascus airport. Macron travels next to a NATO summit in Ankara.
Topics: Syria, Diplomacy
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