Bomb Blast in Central Damascus Kills Five, Wounds 16

A bomb went off at a cafe in central Damascus on Thursday, killing at least five people and wounding 16, Syrian authorities said.

The blast took place near the capital's Palace of Justice, a key government building, sparking scenes of panic in the busy area.

"The explosion that occurred in a cafe near the Palace of Justice in Damascus resulted from an explosive device planted in the location," state television said, after earlier reporting that authorities were seeking to determine the source of the blast.

Nour Khayyat, 40, who owns a shop selling batteries for solar panels near the site of the explosion, told the AFP news agency that "at about 3:00 pm I heard a powerful blast and the storefront shook."

"People rushed to the cafe and called ambulances," he added.

Mohammed al-Zahabi, the owner of a glasses shop next to the targeted cafe, was trembling as he told AFP that "after the blast, I felt strong pressure, and the whole place shook."

"I ran to the place and saw people lying on the floor with blood pooled around them everywhere," he added, saying the scenes recalled the blasts that Damascus experienced during the nearly 14-year civil war.

Damascus has been the site of multiple attacks and incidents since the new authorities took over following the toppling of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad in December 2024.

The deadliest came in June 2025, when an attack on a Damascus church killed 25 people.

The suicide attack was later claimed by a Sunni Islamist group, while the authorities blamed it on the Islamic State group.

The explosion comes a day after the first parliament since the fall of long-time leader Bashar al-Assad began to take shape.

Interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa announced 70 legislators on Wednesday who will join the 140 chosen in elections over the past eight months.

The 210-member Parliament will hold its first meeting on Monday when the members will be sworn in, the head of Syria’s electoral committee, Mohammed Taha al-Ahmad, told reporters.

The launch of the Parliament indicates that the country is moving ahead with drafting new laws as it recovers from decades of autocratic rule under the al-Assad family and a deadly civil war that killed about half a million people.

The 70 legislators picked by al-Sharaa included 15 women, which raised the number of female members in the legislature to 22.