Two attacks rocked Damascus during Macron's visit to Syria

Two explosions rocked Damascus on Tuesday near a hotel where French President Emmanuel Macron was staying, injuring at least 18 people, during the French leader’s historic visit to Syria.

The president was not inside the hotel when the explosions occurred, as he had left for the Syrian presidential palace, where an AFP team saw him arrive for a meeting with his counterpart Ahmed al-Sharaa.

AFP journalists heard at least one explosion reverberate through Damascus before seeing a plume of smoke rising near the Four Seasons Hotel, as security forces closed off a road and ambulances rushed to the scene.

The Syrian Interior Ministry reported that one bomb had been planted inside a car parked on the side of a road, while the second was placed in a trash can.

According to the statement, they exploded “while preparations were underway” to defuse them.

According to Syrian state media, the explosions left 18 people injured, including four police officers.

The French president, the first Western European leader to visit Syria since the fall of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad in 2024, will continue his trip, according to France’s Élysée Palace.

An AFP photographer near the Syrian Ministry of Tourism, across from the hotel, saw windows damaged by one of the explosions, amid a heavy security presence.

"I saw three traffic police officers injured on the ground, before the area was evacuated and the roads leading to it were closed," Hamam Hammoud, a 37-year-old employee at a money exchange company, told AFP.

The explosions occurred moments before Syrian state television announced Macron’s arrival at the palace.

Macron is meeting with Sharaa to discuss post-war reconstruction of Syria and reiterate his call for "unity" and "plurality," having also met with civil society representatives.

Economic recovery

These explosions are the second in the Syrian capital since Thursday, when ten people were killed in a bombing at a café in Damascus.

The French president had postponed the announcement of the date of his visit until his plane landed Monday, for security reasons.

Following the meeting with Sharaa, Macron was scheduled to participate in an “economic forum focused on the reconstruction of Syria and strategic corridors.”

He is accompanied by several key figures from the business world, including Rodolphe Saade, CEO of shipping giant CMA CGM, and Patrick Pouyanne, CEO of TotalEnergies.

The last French president to visit Syria was Nicolas Sarkozy in 2009, before Assad brutally cracked down on pro-democracy protests in 2011, triggering a conflict that killed more than half a million people and devastated the country’s infrastructure and industry.

In May 2025, Macron welcomed Sharaa to France on his first official visit to a European country, a move that preceded the Syrian leader’s trip to Washington last year to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump.