DAMASCUS — An explosive device that was planted in a crowded cafe in the Syrian capital Damascus went off on Thursday, killing at least nine people and wounding 20 others, state media reported.The interior ministry said an explosive device was planted inside the cafe, which is located only 100m (330ft) from the Palace of Justice, a major government building that houses the city’s main courthouse complex in the capital’s Hejaz district.There was no immediate claim from any group for the attack.The interior ministry said preliminary investigations showed the blast was caused by a crudely made explosive device weighing about one kilogram and packed with metal shrapnel, causing severe injuries and extensive damage at the site.Security forces rushed to the cafe and cordoned off the area as they investigate the attack, Syria’s state-run Al-Ikhbariya network reported.The Interior Ministry is set to announce its initial findings soon, said Damascus Gov. Maher Idlibi, who vowed that the perpetrators will be held to account.A video circulating on social media showed several wounded people lying on the ground, with police officers nearby.Ambulances later rushed to the scene treating people on site and taking the more severely wounded to hospitals in the Syrian capital. The cafe was frequented by lawyers who worked in the neighborhood.Jalal Aljanani, who owns a restaurant next door, ran toward the cafe when he heard the explosion and was horrified by the sight of the bodies on the floor.“We carried the victims to the cars until the traffic police arrived,” he told The Associated Press, his shirt covered in blood. “Many of them had suffered severe impact injuries, and almost all of them were bleeding.”The attack presents another security challenge to President Ahmed al-Sharaa, who took control after overthrowing former President Bashar al-Assad in a lightning insurgency in late 2024. Assad’s ouster effectively ended more than 14 years of civil war.Damascus has witnessed a handful of security incidents since then, including a car bomb that killed one Syrian soldier and wounded at least 18 people outside the defense ministry in May.During the uprising-turned war in Syria that began in 2011, Al-Sharaa led the Hayat Tahrir al Sham group, formerly affiliated with Al-Qaeda, but since coming to power in December 2024 he has vowed to protect Syrians of all backgrounds, especially religious and ethnic minorities.Al-Sharaa has reasserted the government’s full authority across the vast majority of the country, wresting control back from extremist groups or Kurdish-led forces. However, he still contends with security concerns as he tries to stabilize the country.Although no group claimed responsibility for Thursday’s blast, Islamic State has sought to exploit the security vacuum created by Assad’s ouster by reactivating sleeper cells, recruiting fighters and moving weapons as the new government extends its authority across the country, security officials had said.The militant group announced earlier this year what it described as a new phase of operations against Sharaa’s government.The group is far weaker than when it controlled large parts of Syria and Iraq before the collapse of its self-declared caliphate in 2019. It remains capable of carrying out deadly insurgency-style attacks and is viewed by Syrian, Iraqi and Western officials as one of the biggest threats to Syria’s transition.Sharaa’s opponents also include Assad-era officers and soldiers. In 2025, Syria was rocked by fighting between the new government forces and insurgents from Syria’s Alawite minority, and separately between government forces and Druze gunmen.
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