Central Damascus Rocked by Deadly Café Explosion
A bomb exploded inside a café in Damascus central Hijaz district on Thursday, killing five people and injuring 16, officials said. Authorities blamed a planted explosive device as security forces sealed off the area and launched an investigation.
ERBIL (Kurdistan24) - A bombing at a commercial café in the central Damascus district of Hijaz on Thursday afternoon killed five people and wounded sixteen others, according to official government updates and on-the-ground press reports.
Kurdistan24 correspondent Anwar Abdul Latif reported from the Syrian capital that the explosion occurred during the afternoon hours of Thursday.
The blast occurred inside a café located within the Hijaz neighborhood, a busy sector of central Damascus situated in close proximity to the country's Palace of Justice.
The location typically experiences high pedestrian traffic from legal professionals, transit commuters, and local residents.
Data concerning the total number of casualties fluctuated during the first hour following the detonation.
In official statements carried by the state-run Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) and reported by Agence France-Presse (AFP), the head of emergency services within the Syrian Health Ministry, Ahmed al-Bakour, initially reported that four individuals were killed and sixteen others sustained injuries.
Syrian state television later updated the official casualty toll to five fatalities, while the number of wounded remained at sixteen.
State media outlets subsequently clarified the cause of the incident.
Officials reported that preliminary findings by domestic security agencies indicated the explosion resulted from an explosive device that had been planted inside the premises of the café.
This official determination changed the trajectory of the emergency response from an unspecified accident investigation into an active security probe.
The logistical response to the incident involved multiple municipal and national departments.
Abdul Latif reported that a significant number of ambulances arrived at the scene immediately after the detonation to stabilize victims and transport them to local Damascus hospitals for emergency medical treatment.
Simultaneously, Syrian security personnel established a strict security cordon around the perimeter of the Hijaz district, cutting off vehicular and pedestrian access to ensure the integrity of the blast site for forensic analysts.
As of Thursday evening, no militant group or political faction has issued a claim of responsibility for the attack. Syrian security authorities have not released information regarding potential suspects, motives, or the technical specifications of the device deployed in the café.
The official investigation to determine accountability remains open.
Beyond the immediate emergency management and casualty figures, security incidents in the Syrian capital carry broader international significance. Damascus functions as the political and diplomatic center of the country, and its domestic security environment is systematically monitored by regional governments and international observers.
The occurrence of a bombing in a central civilian gathering space impacts external assessments of Syria's internal stability and its post-conflict stabilization policies.
Geopolitical analysts observe that such incidents affect international perceptions of the country's prevailing humanitarian conditions and domestic safety parameters.
These security indicators are frequently factored into broader diplomatic evaluations regarding the normalization of relations and the prospects for Syria's continued economic and political engagement with regional neighbors.
Forensic teams remain at the site in the Hijaz district to gather physical evidence, and a heightened security presence persists across central Damascus as authorities continue their investigation.