No group has yet taken responsibility for the attack. [Getty]
A bomb blast at a cafe in central Damascus on Thursday killed nine people and wounded 20, 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.
Ambulances were seen weaving their way through traffic with their sirens blaring as they headed to the site, and security forces cordoned off the area of the blast.
“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.
Syrian Civil Defense teams also said they were responding to the incident, saying they were working towards securing the site “while taking precautionary measures to ensure the safety of civilians.”
No group has so far taken responsibility for the incident and the nature of the incident remains unknown.
Maher Marwan, governor of Damascus, says those responsible for the explosion in a cafe in the capital will be held to account.
“The coming hours will reveal everything and those who shed the blood of Syrians will pay, but Syria will be well as long as we are one hand, and this will not shake the Syrian state,” the governor told an Al Jazeera reporter in Damascus.
“There are a lot of measures being taken for Syria’s security, there are greater numbers of forces day by day, and there is a marked improvement in the Interior Ministry,” he said.
The UN’s deputy special envoy for Syria, Claudio Cordone, said on X that the perpetrators “should be brought to justice”.
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 latest attack took place on 16 June when Salah Ahmed al-Saleh, head of the judicial palace department in the Babila area of Damascus countryside, was seriously injured after an explosive device detonated on his car.
