Syrian authorities said a car bomb exploded near the Defence Ministry building in Damascus, killing at least one soldier and wounding more than 20 people.
According to a statement from the Defence Ministry published on state media on 3 June, members of a military unit discovered an improvised explosive device placed near the area in the Bab Sharqi district of the capital. As they attempted to disarm it, a car bomb detonated in the same area. No further details were provided.
Najib al-Naasan, head of Syria’s ambulance and emergency response agency, confirmed that, in addition to the soldier killed, at least 21 people were wounded and have been transferred to nearby hospitals for treatment.
Videos on social media showed a column of smoke rising from the scene, with firefighters working to extinguish the flames.
No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack.
Security incidents, including bombings targeting military and civilian sites, have occurred sporadically in Syria since President Bashar al-Assad’s fall in late 2024 after more than 13 years of war.
Al Jazeera reporter Heidi Pett, reporting from near the attack site, said the security situation in Syria remains “quite complex”.
Last year, a car bombing killed at least 20 people on the outskirts of Manbij in northern Syria, while a suicide bomber attacked a crowded church in Damascus, killing 25 people and wounding dozens.
In June 2024, a similar explosion in the capital killed one person when an explosive device detonated inside a car.
