18 Wounded in Damascus Blasts During Macron's Visit

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.

Syria’s Interior Ministry said four police officers were among those wounded in the blasts, the state news agency SANA reported on Tuesday.

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.

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.

Macron’s office said the president, who was on his way to meet al-Sharaa, did not hear the blasts and the visit continued as normal.

The Interior Ministry told SANA that the blasts took place “outside the security zone designated for the French President’s residence, and did not pose any direct threat to the residence or the official visit programme, which is proceeding according to the planned schedule”.

Authorities have sealed off roads and an investigation is under way.

“Preliminary 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,” the Interior Ministry said, as cited by SANA.

“Investigations are under way to establish the circumstances of the attack and identify those responsible.”

Al Jazeera’s Obaida Hitto, reporting from the presidential palace, said the situation there was “pretty calm”.

He said the blasts occurred despite “unprecedented” security measures being in place for the first visit by a European leader to Damascus since the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s government in late 2024.

The incident “reminds us how sensitive and fragile the security situation is here in the country,” Hitto said.

A security official told Al Jazeera that the explosions happened in an area busy with civilians, calling it “a criminal act”.

Ismat al-Absi, a security expert based in Damascus, told Al Jazeera that the targets of the blasts were not immediately clear.

“We are not sure if the IEDs were targeting the French president’s convoy as he was heading to the People’s Palace to meet Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa,” he said.

“It is clear that the aim is to create unrest and send a negative message. But let’s be clear, there is a security gap, and we need to fix it … in order to prevent portraying Syria’s security situation in a negative light.”

Last week, an explosion at a cafe in central Damascus killed at least 10 people and wounded 20 others, according to Syria’s Ministry of Health.

In May 2025, Macron hosted al-Sharaa on his first official visit to a European country, a move that preceded the Syrian leader’s trip to Washington last year to meet US President Donald Trump.