Bomb Rocks Damascus Cafe, Killing 9 and Wounding 20

Violence has once again shaken the centre of Damascus, Syria. At least nine people were reported killed and 20 others injured after a bomb exploded at a cafe on Thursday (2/7) local time. The blast occurred in a strategic area adjacent to the Palace of Justice, one of the capital’s key government complexes. No group has yet claimed responsibility for the deadly attack.

According to reports from Syrian state media, explosives were deliberately planted inside the cafe. The Interior Ministry revealed that the improvised bomb contained metal shrapnel, designed to inflict fatal casualties and cause significant material damage in the vicinity.

The force of the explosion was immediately felt by local residents. Nour Khayyat, a shop owner near the site, recounted the horror of the incident, which occurred around three in the afternoon. ‘I heard a very loud explosion. My shop window shook,’ he said, adding that moments after the blast, residents rushed to the cafe to provide assistance while contacting emergency services.

Mohammed al-Dahabi, who owns an optician’s shop next door to the cafe, also felt the intense pressure wave. ‘The whole building shook. When I ran to the scene, many people were lying on the ground with blood everywhere,’ he recalled.

Damascus Governor Maher Eldibi immediately visited the site and confirmed that an investigative team was working to collect forensic evidence and examine CCTV footage. Eldibi stressed that the attack was a systematic attempt to disrupt the improving security situation under the government of President Ahmed al-Sharaa. ‘Whenever the country begins to stabilise, there are always parties trying to destabilise it,’ Eldibi asserted.