French President Emmanuel Macron was unharmed after two bomb blasts struck near his Damascus hotel on Tuesday, 7 July 2026, during a landmark state visit to Syria.
The explosions went off in a busy part of the Syrian capital near the Ministry of Tourism and the hotel where Macron had stayed the night before, as reported by CBS News.
Syrian authorities said 18 people were wounded in the blasts, including four police officers.
What we know about the Macron Damascus explosions
Investigators believe two improvised devices caused the blasts. The first was hidden inside a car parked at the roadside, while the second was placed in a rubbish container.
Syria’s Interior Ministry said the explosions fell outside the security perimeter drawn up for the presidential visit.
Emergency teams sealed off the district within minutes as smoke rose over the area. Local officials said the wounded were taken to nearby hospitals, and the casualty figure was expected to be confirmed once everyone caught in the blasts had been accounted for.
The president’s office said Macron did not hear the explosions and had arrived safely for talks with Syria’s new leadership.
His delegation pressed on with the planned programme, and officials stressed that the blasts posed no direct threat to his residence or his schedule for the day.
Why Macron travelled to Damascus
Macron’s trip was the first by a European head of state to Syria since rebel forces removed Bashar al-Assad from power in 2024. The country is now led by President Ahmed al-Sharaa, who has been working to pull Syria out of years of deep diplomatic isolation.
France has positioned itself as one of the Western governments most willing to test relations with the new administration in Damascus.
The visit had been months in the planning, and its disruption by violence underlined how fragile security still remains across large parts of the country.
The trip was designed as a signal of renewed engagement between Paris and Damascus after more than a decade of civil war.
A sitting French leader walking the streets of the capital carried heavy symbolism, which is partly why analysts believe the delegation was the likely target of the attack.
What happens next in the investigation
No group had claimed responsibility for the bombing by the time of publishing, and the motive could not be verified.
Syrian security services opened an investigation into how the devices were planted so close to a heavily guarded foreign delegation.
The blasts followed another attack in Damascus days earlier, when an explosive device at a cafe near the Palace of Justice killed at least 10 people and wounded 20.
Investigators will now work to establish whether the two incidents are linked as the city absorbs a fresh wave of violence.
