Powerful Explosion Rocks Damascus’ Mezzeh 86 District
A powerful explosion struck Damascus’ Mezzeh 86 district after two Katyusha rockets hit residential areas, injuring civilians. Syrian ministries opened an investigation as the attack adds to a series of major strikes targeting the capital in 2025.
ERBIL (Kurdistan24) – A powerful explosion shook the Mezzeh 86 neighborhood of Damascus late on Friday, plunging the Syrian capital into a night of confusion, fear, and tightened security. The blast, which erupted in a densely populated Alawite-majority area overlooking the road to the People’s Palace, prompted an immediate security alert across the district.
Syrian media reported that the explosion occurred in the narrow streets of Mezzeh, a zone long considered one of the regime’s most heavily monitored neighborhoods. The cause of the explosion remains unknown.
The state-run Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) confirmed the incident, quoting the Health Ministry’s Emergency and Ambulance Directorate:
“The explosion that occurred in Mezzeh resulted in a woman sustaining moderate injuries, and she was transported to one of Damascus’ hospitals.”
The Syrian Ministry of Defense also stated that Damascus had been struck by an external attack.
According to the ministry’s Media and Communications Directorate, speaking to SANA:
“The capital Damascus was subjected to a treacherous assault represented by the fall of two Katyusha rockets launched from the outskirts of the city toward residential neighborhoods in the Mezzeh area and its surroundings, resulting in injuries among civilians and material damage.”
The ministry added that it had launched a joint investigation with the Interior Ministry:
“The Ministry of Defense, in cooperation with the Ministry of Interior, has begun investigating the circumstances of this criminal attack and is working on collecting the necessary evidence and determining the trajectory of the rockets and their launch points.”
The Directorate emphasized that authorities would pursue those responsible:
“The ministry affirms it will not hesitate to pursue those behind this criminal act and will take deterrent measures against anyone who tampers with the security of the capital and targets the lives and stability of Syrians.”
The blast sent shockwaves through a district inhabited largely by low-income Alawite families, prompting what witnesses described as an “unusual level of security deployment.”
Roads were partially sealed as emergency crews and security forces searched for debris and possible impact points.
This latest attack comes at a time when Damascus has faced a string of unprecedented military escalations throughout 2025.
The most recent major assault before Friday’s explosion took place on Aug. 27, 2025, when Israeli warplanes struck multiple military sites in the Damascus countryside as the capital hosted its high-profile International Fair.
SOHR director Rami Abdulrahman told Kurdistan24 at the time that three Israeli jets carried out around ten airstrikes, hitting Jabal al-Mana near Harjala in the al-Kiswah region and Deir Ali, only 10 kilometers from the fairgrounds where President Farouk al-Sharaa was attending the opening ceremony.
That escalation followed a dramatic July 16 attack in which Israeli raids struck the General Staff Headquarters and the Presidential Palace in central Damascus, shaking Umayyad Square. According to SANA, at least 13 people were injured, with Reuters reporting fatalities inside the Ministry of Defense.
While injuries from Friday’s explosion appear limited, the circumstances surrounding the attack remain unclear. With investigators now searching for the source of the Katyusha rockets and security forces reinforcing the capital, the explosion in Mezzeh 86 underscores the increasingly volatile environment surrounding Damascus in recent months.
